The best data tells a story. When it comes to customer experience (CX), the best stories are ones of frictionless journeys, engaged employees and agile technologies. Knowing what customers want — and where CX is lagging — can help you know where to focus efforts over the coming year. This blog looks at the top stats every CX leader needs to know to gain a competitive advantage in 2023 and beyond.

Loyalty is won or lost where CX expectations meet reality. 

70% of consumers say a company is only as good as its service, yet one in three say that customer service is always a hassle.

#1 First-contact resolution is the most important factor in a service interaction, say consumers worldwide; businesses prioritise other things – friendliness, professionalism and speed.

38% of consumers have used a chatbot in the past three years. Yet, just 25% are highly satisfied with their chatbot experiences.

80% of consumers say companies earn their trust and money when they offer personalised experiences, but just 60% of CX leaders say the experiences they offer are only “somewhat personalised.”

Sources:

The Connected Customer Experience, Genesys 2021

The State of Customer Experience, Genesys 2021 

The Takeaway

Efficient, personalised experiences win loyalty and share of wallet. Your experience is your brand. Yet the data shows we’re transforming too slowly — and that tells customers they’re not a priority. It’s time to close the gap.

A poor employee experience is a risk to your top and bottom lines.

76% of CX leaders say there is low morale in the contact centre.

6 in 10 CX leaders struggle with the rising costs of employee recruitment.

69% of CX leaders expect to require a more specialised skill set in the future, including data and analytics, journey optimisation, and deeper product knowledge.

#1 Learning new skills is what agents globally love most about their jobs; CX leaders say learning and development is the area of the employee lifecycle most in need of improvement.

64% of CX leaders say their agents are frustrated by insufficient information to assist customers in the moment; 83% of surveyed CX leaders will use agent-assist technology by 2024.

Sources:

Customer Experience and the Future of Work, MIT Technology Review, 2022

Human Values: The Operating System for a High-Performing Contact Center, Genesys, 2021

The Takeaway

We’re competing for contact centre talent based on the quality of our workplace culture and career development opportunities. CX employees need great technology to be successful in every interaction. They also need a progressive program of skills building and leadership development to keep them motivated over the long term.

The most valuable CX technologies right now are the ones that simplify the customer and employee experience. 

3 hottest technologies for improving agent experience between now and 2024 are AI-based coaching and training recommendations, AI performance monitoring, and chatbots and voicebots.

73% of CX leaders plan to streamline the agent experience with a single screen and platform.

59% of CX leaders say the greatest benefit of migrating to the cloud is better access to data across channels.

87% of companies say AI makes experiences feel more empathetic to the customer.

Sources:

The State of Customer Experience, Genesys 2021

Customer Experience and the Future of Work, MIT Technology Review, 2022

The Business Case for Empathy, Genesys 2022

The Takeaway

The future of CX is an open, composable platform that allows for rapid innovation, data integration and access to the ecosystem.

The Winning Advantage in CX

The moral of this data story: In 2023 and beyond, organisations will win with empathy. That is, they’ll outpace competitors when they provide customer journeys that are both frictionless and relevant, engage their employees through personalised learning and development that advances their careers, and harness agile technologies that support both.