Independent study commissioned by LogMeIn reveals opportunity to make CX a differentiator with an execution-focused strategy that prioritizes self-service and continual optimization
LogMeIn (Nasdaq: LOGM) today announced the results of a
new commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting designed to help
customer experience (CX) decision makers evaluate their current state, identify
gaps and define a strategy for optimization. The study, Short-Term Wins and Continuous
Optimization: The Roadmap To Customer Engagement Success,
surveyed 463 global CX decision makers and found that the customer engagement
maturity (CEM) gap continues to widen as more channels emerge and that
organizations must look to establish a foothold with artificial intelligence
(AI) to accelerate their CX maturity in turn.
“Customer expectations
continue to evolve, and so too must customer engagement practices to meet key
CX and business goals. As companies improve technology and strategy, they must
shift priorities to best serve and retain customers, as well as grow revenues,”
according to the study. The study, which identifies four maturity groups –
Experimenters (least mature), Evolutionists, Enthusiasts and Experts (most
mature) – showed the decision makers made significant year-over-year
improvements at their firms in both their customer engagement metrics and their
mobile strategies. That said, most respondents at all maturity levels are
either not using AI at all or are in the nascent stages of AI development
putting all companies on roughly even footing. That means for Experimenters to
Experts alike, getting a few pilot programs running to build the business case
for investment and showcase the value of customer engagement will be a critical
next step to keep pace in the AI race.
Focusing On Execution
The Forrester CEM model
establishes five pillars of engagement for investigation and analysis: process,
organization, strategy, technology and AI. Experimenters have made impressive
headway catching up to their more mature peers in strategy over the past year.
Now, firms need to turn their attention to the actual execution – process and
organizational set up. In fact, for all but “Experts”, organization and process
scores lag behind strategy and technology, meaning that businesses have a plan
in place and, in many cases, the tools to activate upon it, but not the
internal systems to do so. Being execution focused is a clear next step to
improve customer engagement maturity.
Making Foundational Self-Service Improvement a Top Priority
Improving self-service
capabilities is a top technology priority for respondents across all maturity
levels. According to the study, 68 percent of respondents have self-service
options based on text analysis and capable of agent escalation, with
year-over-year growth in this area mainly driven by lower-maturity companies
Driving industry-wide maturity requires overcoming the mindset that
“self-service” automatically means only using chatbots. In reality, improving
self-service can start as simply by going beyond FAQs with foundational
knowledgebases for both agents and customers. These types of initiatives enable
customers to solve their own problems and will form the foundation for later
self-service AI implementations.
Adopting A Continual Optimization Mindset
Modernizing — or
transforming — customer engagement is a slow and steady journey that must be
approached in a methodical manner that is dependent on organizational needs.
Those Experimenters that are early in their CX journey, for example, see
technology and process improvements as top priorities. Meanwhile, Evolutionists
and Enthusiasts that are further along are focused on strategy and technology,
and the most advanced, Experts, concentrate their efforts on technology and
organization. Incremental benefits are realized at each of these steps which
fuels ongoing initiatives, and a methodical approach of consistent optimization
and growth propels organizations along their CEM journey from Experimenter to
Expert.
New Delhi, August 20, 2020