A study by Avaya, a global provider of business collaboration and communications solutions and services aimed at assessing the impact of customer experience management (CEM) programs, shows that owing to high expectations, a large number of organisations fail to deliver on CEM programs.

While CEM programs are being undertaken on a global scale by businesses of all sizes, the findings of the study suggest that in India, 72 per cent of the businesses have a CEM solution which is far better than the global average of 59 per cent. However, India is far behind China where 84 per cent of businesses have a far better CEM solution in place.

Following are the key findings of the study:

CEM and Profits

CEM activities are strongly tied to business success and growth trajectories. The study found a strong correlation between a strong CEM program and increased profits. Globally, 81 per cent of businesses which have seen a significant increase in profits have a CEM program in place, compared to those businesses whose profits have remained static (46 per cent) or witnessed a decline in profits (35 per cent). Following the implementation of CEM program, companies witness significant improvements in customer satisfaction, loyalty, retention and repeat purchasing. About 75 per cent of business managers in India describe CEM as extremely important, followed by Mexico (67 per cent), the United States and Brazil (59 per cent each).

What Indian Customer Expects

With regards to what customers expect vis-a-vis what companies are able to offer in India, 80 per cent of the Indian customers expected to be treated uniquely, with companies delivering communications tailored to an individual’s preferences. Unfortunately, only 49 per cent of companies are able to meet this parameter. About 58 per cent of companies in India are able to provide customer-facing staff with a single customer view in real time when a customer contacts the company. Interestingly, this percentage is higher in India in comparison to other countries including China (48 per cent), Russia (46 per cent) and Brazil (43 per cent). About 45 per cent of companies in India claim that they can link (in real time) communication across different channels (e.g. web, phone, social media etc). However, the customer expectations are high on this front, with 80 per cent of the customers surveyed expecting organisations to offer them more options of contacting the company staff with readily available updates regarding past conversations, emails and tweets etc. About 47 per cent of companies in the country claim that their customers can be automatically notified by their corporate technology systems of potential problems (example late order, stock issues, delivery problems etc.) and proactively offer solutions to address these issues.

Bridging the Gap

The study concludes that multichannel/multidisciplinary way of working with customers requires strong support from enabling technology. About 45 per cent of businesses in India, claim that they can automatically produce in real time a record of a prospect’s contact history across all communication channels from the first point of contact, even if they have not become a customer.

Commenting on the findings of the study, Johnson Varkey, director, contact center sales, India and SAARC, Avaya, says,  “A majority of businesses acknowledge the need for a comprehensive CEM program, but somehow fail to deliver on what it takes to implement one. The gap in India is quite wide as 80 per cent of customers expect to be treated as unique whereas only 49 per cent of companies deliver on this aspect.  Breaking down functional silos, tapping the expertise of internal and external resources and investing in technologies that bring customers and employees closer together will help put companies on the path to success.”