technology
reseller.co.uk
CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE
37
Reality check
New report highlights gap between business perceptions and
the customer experience
an education client we would provide
independent content and run groups on
LinkedIn and through social media, so you
could talk to buyers in other schools. Not
everything has to be moderated by us,”
he said.
“On the PR side, the aim is to focus
activity on certain verticals. Every two or
three months we will choose a different
vertical sector to focus on depending
on what activities are going on in the
market place. For example, in the run-up
to the BETT show, we would focus on the
education sector and produce relevant
content for buyers in schools.”
Amid mounting evidence of a
disconnect between the quality of the
customer service organisations think
they provide and what their customers
actually experience (see below), there is
a clear need for a certification scheme
based on independent client feedback.
By providing buyers with a quick and
easy way to find reputable suppliers
with relevant experience and satisfied
customers, techtick removes much of
the fear, uncertainty and doubt from the
supplier selection process. For suppliers
themselves, it provides independent
validation of their commitment to
customer service and a way to differentiate
themselves from competitors who make
claims they can’t back up.
A new report from Capgemini’s Digital
Transformation Institute highlights a
positive correlation between investment
in digital customer experience initiatives
and the satisfaction of customers and
their willingness to spend more.
Based on an international survey of
more than 3,300 consumers and 450
company executives,
The Disconnected
Customer: What digital customer
experience leaders teach us about
reconnecting with customers
highlights
a gap between how businesses and
consumers perceive the quality of their
customer experience.
For example, while 74% of businesses
describe themselves as customer-centric,
only 30% of consumers agree with this
perception.
The gap between business and
consumer perceptions is narrowest
for internet-based services, with just
12 points between the percentage of
companies who believe themselves to be
customer-centric and the percentage of
companies whose consumers believe they
are customer-centric (68% vs 56%).
This compares to a 71-point gap for
utilities (78% vs 7%) and a 47-point gap
for retail (79% vs 32%).
The report shows that many businesses
are also over-optimistic about customers’
willingness to recommend their products
or services, measured by the Net Promoter
Score (NPS). While 90% of businesses
believe their NPS has increased by 5
points in the last three years, only 54% of
consumers agree.
Businesses that invest in technology
to narrow the gap between their own and
their customers’ perceptions can look
forward to increased loyalty and business,
with 81% of consumers surveyed saying
they would increase spend in return for a
better experience. Almost one in 10 (9%)
say they would increase their spend by
more than half.
The digital experience
Capgemini argues that investment to
improve the digital experience should be
a key area of focus. Its Digital Customer
Experience (DCX) Index, which rates
business performance across 80 digital
experience attributes, shows that the
higher the DCX Index score, the greater the
willingness of consumers to spend money
with and recommend a business.
Analysis shows that for each single
point increase in the DCX Index score,
consumers would be willing to spend 0.6%
more with an organisation and the NPS
would go up by nearly 5 points.
Companies that closely link their
business operations with the customer
experience (6%) enjoy a 14-point NPS
advantage over those in which business
operations are not connected to the
customer experience (33%).
Currently, just 19% of organisations
are meeting consumers’ digital experience
expectations. Those that aren’t face a
number of challenges including the rapidly
evolving technology landscape (56%);
rising consumer expectations (57%); the
difficulty of integrating disparate platforms
(38%); poor user interfaces (32%); and
a lack of dedicated customer experience
budgets (41%) and internal ownership of
the digital customer experience (35%).
membership in multiple technologies and
sectors.
Building awareness
The success of techtick will depend on
its ability to attract a sufficient number
of end users to the website. To this end,
it will also provide independent content
with advice on business technology and
the procurement process and a no-frills
directory of non-approved suppliers, so
that in areas where there is not yet an
approved reseller, users can still find
useful information. In addition, Ogden
plans to run a rolling PR and social media
programme to raise awareness in specific
market sectors.
“Our aim is to try and become known
in certain areas. For example, if you are
7%
14%
32%
42%
56%
30%
78%
81%
79%
67%
68%
74%
CPG
Retail
Bank Internet-Based
Services
Overall
Utility
Percentage of companies whose consumers believe they are customer centric
Percentage of companies who perceive themselves to be customer centric
Consumer and company perception of customer centricity
– by Industry
