Intelligent #CX: What is it, really?
Customer experience (CX) has been a priority for brands across all industries for several years now, but according to?Forrester’s annual CX Benchmark Study, CX scores dropped between 2021 and 2022 for the first time in seven years.
There could be a lot of reasons for this. With relentless inflation, shrinking budgets, stressed supply chains, and global unrest, companies have struggled. And post-pandemic, customer preferences and priorities are continuously changing, making it even harder to keep up.
But the crux of the problem is the simple fact that customer experience has been a disjointed effort. Companies have dedicated a lot of people and resources to it, but they’re working in silos. Brands can’t afford to lose sight of what it takes to create satisfied, loyal customers.
The key is getting smarter about CX with intelligent customer experience.
Intelligent CX brings teams and data together so that companies can truly make customers the heartbeat of their business – the center of everything that makes their business run profitably.
Intelligent CX puts all teams across the enterprise — service, marketing, sales, logistics and operations — on the same page. Data is the vital link, connecting insights from fulfillment business processes with customer touch points such as service and commerce. And with connected customer data and?AI-fueled insights,?companies can personalize experiences, improve operational efficiency, and drive more profitable outcomes.
This connectivity infuses intelligence into every step of the customer journey to produce the best CX possible.
Operate Smarter: The roles of the CIO and CFO in Intelligent CX
Technology leaders are uniquely positioned to influence positive customer experiences.
The CIO oversees the systems, tools, and processes involved in CX, from customer data platforms and CRMs to ERP, inventory, and finance systems. With their deep expertise and perspective, CIOs can ask critical questions, identify solutions, lead integrations, and drive change across an organization. Meanwhile, the CFO is creating additional revenue and savings for the business by connecting data silos to create a holistic, intelligent CX that runs cohesively – thus saving the business money on operational expenditures.
The four characteristics of intelligent CX are:
Now, let’s dive into each in more detail:
Connecting the dots for better experiences and higher profits brings an organization together around a single source of truth, empowering employees to provide personalized, exceptional experiences.
Traditional CRM systems, which have served as a core CX technology, are built on fragmented and siloed data. Without a complete view of the customer, meeting their fast-changing needs is impossible.
Intelligent customer experience overcomes this challenge by coupling operational data such as supply chain information, pricing, inventory allocations, and demand planning with data about customers like buying behavior and service call notes. With connected data and people, a company can boost efficiency and profitability. For example, sales and service people don’t have to waste time looking for data. They have the right information at their fingertips to meet – and even anticipate – customer needs.
AI insights take customer experience to the next level by understanding which customers are the most valuable and prioritizing them to boost efficiency and the bottom line.
Advances in artificial intelligence offer tantalizing opportunities to improve customer experience. Simply put, AI helps a business dig deeper and analyze faster to truly understand customer needs and optimize decision making.
领英推荐
With insight into customer behavior and preferences, brands can provide relevant, personalized experiences such as tailored product recommendations and offers at exactly the right time and channel.
Adapt to change and your business’s preferred pace with hybrid solution composability.
Composability is a growing IT trend. Essentially, it’s a modular approach to operating a business so that the business can quickly adapt to change by adding and subtracting solution pieces. But managing a composable business – and all the modifications – can be complicated and expensive.
At the same time, companies can’t keep up with shifting customer demands and evolving market conditions by sticking with monolithic software systems that aren’t easily changed.
SAP supports hybrid composability, which starts with enterprise customer experience platforms that brands can build on, based on their individual needs. Companies use only what they need, build on their own schedule, and ?tap a large network of vetted solution partners for guidance.
This approach gives companies the ability to build to their unique requirements, move fast, and plan for the future.
Industry-tailored CX understands that GREAT CX is not one-size-fits-all.
Each industry has unique needs, market dynamics, and specific customer requirements. What works for a manufacturing company may not be the best fit for a retailer. And SAP understands this.
We fuel our solutions with 50 years of industry experience. Combined with a wide range of business process solutions, our deep knowledge helps companies meet the pressing needs of their industry and their customers.
With built-in industry capabilities, our CX solutions enable brands to drive efficiency and reach their goals faster. In addition to our extensible solutions, we partner with industry experts that help our customers further tailor CX for their individual needs and goals. Customers can have confidence in certified partner extensions, which accelerate time to value.
Keeping the Ultimate Promise
Technology leaders have a lot on their plates. Managing digital transformation in a volatile economy is daunting. But by remaining focused on the customer, they can build a strong future of profitable growth for their companies.
With intelligent customer experience, brands across all industries can deliver on their promise to customers with every single engagement. They’re agile, profitable, and ready for whatever’s next. They’re able to show up and be amazing. So, what’s stopping you?
Learn how you can take your CX from good to GREAT here.
?
?
?
Sales Director- Applications, Data and AI - SAP
1 年This is a great approach to CX, a great template to keep in mind when evaluating / proposing CX solutions to customers. Intelligent CX is not just about intelligence, as we loosely use the term. Its about connecting the data and teams from various departments including sales, service, marketing, logistics, operations. And data points like inventory, pricing which are so important while engaging with customers. And then giving ability to companies to have a platform and build on it by adding or subtracting solution. And AI insights in the each part of customer journey, each data point being used. this is helpful for CMO, CDO, CIO, CFO What SAP further can offer their customer is their 50 years of experience of Industry solutions. Very nice read - highly recommended !!
B2B's go-to ghostwriter | CX storyteller | Event host and moderator
1 年Great post, Geert. It’s rare to see the role of the CIO and the CFO in CX laid out so well. I’m also intrigued by the idea of composability as a way to advance CX. I think there needs to be greater awareness of composability across all business functions in order for leaders to successfully execute it through a more customer-centric lens.