Shaun Buck states that virtually all businesses operate without considering how the process will be for their customers but rather how efficient it will be for themselves or their team. Meanwhile everyone says that their customers are a priority. So, 'when will their actions match the redirect?' and 'what changes will they make today to improve the customer experience?'
https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/305876/
There’s a continuing focus on brands improving customer experience to lead customer-driven growth. They realize that this is an investment that will be incredibly helpful if they want to be competitive.
Here is an overview of the top 3 shared CX blogs by Customer Bliss.
http://www.customerexperienceupdate.com/2018/trends/?open-article-id=7500515&article-title=more-than-just-a-customer-experience-trend--3-top-shared-customer-bliss-blog-posts&blog-domain=customerbliss.com&blog-title=customer-bliss/
Thanks to the rise of digital channels, brands now possess large amounts of personal data on their customers. Often this is used to provide a better, more personalized service that better meets consumer needs. However, protecting this sensitive information is obviously vital if brands are to build consumer trust, meet regulatory requirements, protect their brand and retain customers. As cases such as the recent hack at Equifax demonstrate, security breaches are extremely costly to reputation, stock price and in legal terms.
https://www.eptica.com/blog/importance-security-and-gdpr-digital-customer-experience/
Gartner made some interesting predictions about customer experience (CX) and the marketing technology associated with it in early 2017. The research firm suggested customer experience management would continue to top CEO, CMO and CIO agendas, calling it the “watchword of our age.” On the technology side, Gartner predicted CMO technology spending would exceed that of CIOs and that eventually, the CIO role will fall under the CMO organizationally.
https://www.cmswire.com/customer-experience/surveying-the-customer-experience-technology-landscape/
We're in the age of voice of the customer. Of course, for retailers, this isn't news. But every year yields new evidence that the digital age continues to restructure the buyer-seller dynamic. In today's trust economy, customers are finding tremendous value — and leverage — in social proof. And brands are seeing it become a powerful and persuasive form of digital marketing.
https://www.retailcustomerexperience.com/blogs/social-proof-is-boosting-holiday-sales-5-steps-show-you-how/
It used to be that most technology interfaces with a customer interaction point were system-specific: One type of action being served and captured by one piece of technology. However, as the customer experience technology stack has evolved, we now have single interaction points that are either driven by, or feed, multiple backend systems. We also have, as is the case with the payment terminal, interfaces being developed that combine different ways of entering responses or acknowledging actions.
https://www.cmswire.com/customer-experience/let-the-customer-experience-drive-your-technology-design/
Why is customer experience such a hot topic and buzz phrase in the travel industry (and others)?
Answer: because in the age of the experience economy the quality of customer interactions at each stage of the path to purchase builds customer loyalty and advocacy. Both are closely aligned to profits.
The reality is, big data and technology have enabled brands to understand us better – often better than we understand ourselves (I sometimes joke that Google knows me better than my partner does).
https://www.hospitalitynet.org/opinion/4086016.html/
The Jamaican saying, 'Fire deh a muss muss tail, him think a cool breeze', aptly describes many local businesses that continue to mete out shoddy service to their customers, oblivious to the whirlwind of change nipping at their heels.
Globally, smart companies have recognised that the digital revolution, especially the rapid acceleration of online sales, requires that they counter with unprecedented customer-experience strategies and service excellence.
Regrettably, that realisation has yet to permeate our shores.
http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/business/20171210/yaneek-page-lessons-my-worst-customer-experience-2017/
With e-commerce’s stake in U.S. retail at less than 10 percent, suggestions of a “retail apocalypse” of brick-and-mortar stores is greatly exaggerated, panelists said during a ULI North Texas event on the retail sector. Still, panelists at an event in Dallas said the industry has to find new ways to reinvent itself and connect with customers in order to thrive.
“What we did . . . ten years ago doesn’t work anymore,” said Valerie Richardson, vice president of real estate for the Container Store Inc. “We are in a tectonic-plate shift in our industry. For those of us with longstanding brands, it’s critical that we go deep into our customer base and understand what our customer needs and respond to that appropriately.”
https://urbanland.uli.org/news/retailers-focusing-customer-experience-eye-e-commerce/
If “the customer is always right” is the golden rule of customer service, then “treat each customer as an individual” should be the golden rule for brand marketing. Every consumer wants to feel as though the brands they support view them as a unique entity, rather than another customer identification number.
For years, brands were able to get by delivering mass communications and services to their buyers, but those days are gone. Today’s consumers want assurance that brands hear their unique voices, consider their original feedback, and deliver products and services that are tailored to their personal lifestyle needs.
https://thenextweb.com/contributors/2017/12/11/personalized-data-quickly-improving-customer-experiences/