CallMiner report reveals more than 60% of organizations don’t collect enough data to improve CX

The last few years have been extraordinary for global customer experience (CX) teams. Customers and companies alike have struggled in the face of uncertainty, but a few things hold true. Understanding customers and demonstrating empathy has never been more important.

However, according to the inaugural CallMiner CX Landscape Report, 62% of organizations believe they don’t collect all of the CX data they need. What’s more, only 12% of teams collect an equal amount of solicited and unsolicited customer feedback.

To develop the CX Landscape Report, CallMiner worked with independent research firm Vanson Bourne to survey 450 senior decision makers from contact center and CX departments in the US, U.K. / Republic of Ireland and South Africa. Respondents were from organizations with 100 or more employees globally, within the healthcare, financial services and retail sectors.

Without capturing and analyzing unsolicited data, such as the conversations that happen within a contact or customer service center, these companies may be missing out on critical insights that reflect the customer’s state of mind – including their sentiment and emotions about products, services and even interactions with employees. In fact, 79% of organizations say the majority of the feedback collected is solicited, with 44% reporting that all feedback collected is solicited. While surveys and other methods of gathering solicited feedback can reveal basic information, for many of the companies surveyed, a wealth of insights from everyday customer interactions are largely untapped.

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CallMiner CX Landscape Report

Discover how practitioners around the globe using data, analysis & AI to improve customer experience based on this landmark survey from CallMiner.

Let’s dive into more of the findings from the survey, including:

• How companies analyze the data they collect
• The role of the employee experience in transforming CX
• Which technologies are most effective for continuously improving CX.

Do organizations have a full picture of the CX?

The majority of companies surveyed (94%) believe their organizations are very customer-centric. In fact, board members/executive leadership teams receive reports on CX and satisfaction metrics an average of twice per month. But conversely, 58% say that their organizations’ CX teams are not completely aligned with the rest of their organization.

Some of this lack of alignment might come from how companies analyze their data in the first place. That analysis may not provide a full picture of the CX. While all (100%) respondents’ organizations collect some data/feedback from their customers about their experience and satisfaction with products and/or services, almost all respondents (96%) say their organizations are using manual analysis to some extent. That might mean reading or listening to feedback and hand-coding it, or aggregating data using Excel or PowerPoint. With so many still using manual processes, organizations aren’t maximizing the potential of the data they’re collecting.

In fact, most (70%) of respondents say some improvements are needed to the ways their organizations use data to enhance CX. With only a portion (48%) actually recording calls and so few collecting an equal amount of solicited and unsolicited feedback, it comes as no surprise. Unfortunately, 60% say their organizations are unable to accurately track ROI regarding customer data/feedback all of the time, which could be holding them back from truly understanding the value of their CX efforts.

Employee experience shapes CX

Perhaps some of the greatest insights into CX might originate with the employee experience (EX). With trends shifting quickly from The Great Resignation to global economic uncertainty, many employees are under a lot of stress – particularly in the contact center. Fortunately, most organizations realize the impact of EX on CX and their overall brand. In response, they’re making strides in providing the support and ongoing coaching their employees need to be successful.

Most survey respondents (99%) agree that the way employees deal with customers has a direct impact on the perception of an organization’s brand, product or services. In addition, 99% believe EX is at least somewhat important to CX success. Even so, 34% of those surveyed say customer service representatives’ disengagement or lack of productivity is one of their top three biggest challenges.

To meet these challenges, 93% say their organizations use insight from the analysis of CX data to improve training, onboarding and coaching for customer service reps. However, less than half of respondents (44%) are using unsolicited feedback sources to understand the experience of their employees.

That means organizations may be missing major opportunities to analyze that feedback to improve EX, build cultures of improvement, and drive critical changes that increase retention. All of these improvements could lead to a more positive work environment – and pay dividends when it comes to customer interactions.

AI: Carving a path forward for CX improvement

With so many organizations relying on manual methods and missing out on unsolicited feedback analysis, how many are truly leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) for CX improvement? It turns out, AI has been widely adopted to collect and analyze data about CX and satisfaction, with 71% saying their organizations have at least partially implemented it. However, almost half of those (48%) report that their organizations aren’t fully leveraging the benefits of AI.

Many organizations claim that they need additional budget and support around AI implementation to fully realize these benefits. Respondents reported challenges that AI-powered technology is too expensive (41%), or it’s too complex for them to implement and manage (41%).

However, if AI is used effectively, the largest benefits come (or are expected to come) from:

• Departments sharing insights/data with each other (41%)
• Brand reputation/crisis management (38%)
• Employee engagement/productivity (36%)

These stats bode well for the future of CX. By analyzing both solicited and unsolicited customer feedback, organizations have the potential to drive critical business improvements everywhere – not just within customer support teams. In fact, the vast majority of respondents (93%) believe AI and conversation intelligence will become very important or even critical to how their organizations approach CX in the future.

Ideally, these solutions are used to improve all customer-facing initiatives – including product development, marketing, sales, support and employee experience efforts.

Want to read more about the state of CX in 2022? Download the CallMiner CX Landscape Report.

About Vanson Bourne: Vanson Bourne is an independent specialist in market research for the technology sector. Their reputation for robust and credible research-based analysis is founded upon rigorous research principles and their ability to seek the opinions of senior decision makers across technical and business functions, in all business sectors and all major markets. For more information, visit www.vansonbourne.com