Better digital strategies required, says Dimension Data

New research published by Dimension Data suggests that organisations around the world are not implementing effective digital strategies.

This means that digital is not replacing traditional phone interactions at the speed of customer demand.

The Global Customer Experience Benchmarking Report surveyed 1351 organisations across 80 countries in Asia–Pacific, the Americas, Middle East, Africa and Europe.

Less than 10% of organisations overall, and just 6% of Australian respondents, said they had an optimised strategy for digital business in place. More than half reported they do not have a plan at all, or are in the process of developing one.

The top factor driving digital transformation, both globally and in Australia, is improving customer experience (CX), followed by customer demands for digital. However, only 36% of respondents have appointed a board-level executive who is responsible for customer experiences.

“The world has formed a digital skin, and business, service, technology and commercial models have changed forever. However, organisations are strategically challenged to keep pace with customer behaviour,” Dimension Data Group Executive CX and Collaboration Joe Manuele said.

Even when digital solutions are available, the customer is frequently not even aware of their existence.

Meanwhile, emerging CX robotics is also creating a new reality. Virtual assistants such as chat bots were voted the top channel growth focus for 2017, and IoT deployments are set to double.

“Pioneers of the digital age have reimagined business models and processes that have changed customer behaviour, and the choices organisations make with their CX and digital strategies will define the future success of their organisations,” Dimension Data Australia General Manager CX and Collaboration Michael Slip said.

Other Australian highlights in the 2017 Global CX Benchmarking Report include:

• CX was voted by 82% of Australian participants as a competitive differentiator, and was the number one most important strategic indicator of performance.
• 81% of Australian research participants forecast increases in assisted-service volumes, 71% see a rise in fully automated digital contacts and 59% anticipate overall interactions to grow.
• Customers have a choice of nine channels with which to engage with organisations — now the norm. This number will rise to 11 by 2018.
• Connected customer journeys via omnichannel (integrated) solutions are the top technology trend for 2017. Omnichannel solutions and customer analytics were listed as the top factors to reshape CX capability in the next five years.

Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/Nmedia

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