Companies Need to Do More CX and VoC Measurement
Nearly half (47 percent) of all companies consider their voice-of-the-customer and customer experience measurement programs low quality or very low quality, according to a report from Forrester Research.
And even among those with seasoned programs that are between six and nine years old, 54 percent still find it difficult connecting CX and business metrics, the research found.
Another major challenge continues to be getting organizational buy-in for these programs. Then, the teams for CX and VoC measurement are often working in their own departments so there is little or no alignment of their work across the entire enterprise. Additionally, only one-third of companies say they have a good understanding of their programs. Good internal feedback on these programs is another issue, with only one-third indicating that all employees are involved in their organizations’ programs, and even fewer (25 percent) say they use that feedback to shape customer-based decisions.
The effectiveness of the programs themselves might also be overestimated, according to Forrester. Slightly more than a third (35 percent) of respondents say they rely on self-measurement of the effectiveness and efficiency of their programs.
This needs to change, and so the call is going out for companies to embed VoC and CX measurements more deeply into their operations.
“CX leaders need metrics that allow them to track their impact on the business, the quality of their relationships with stakeholders, their contribution to CX-focused knowledge creation among employees, and the team’s operational efficiency,” Forrester says in the report. “Although most respondents believe that the organization considers their efforts vital, CX professionals cannot count on the high-value perceptions of their programs continuing unabated. Faced with economic headwinds, CX teams need to focus on showing ROI now more than ever.”
If these teams don’t focus on showing ROI, they are in danger of being reduced in size or eliminated entirely. Forrester points out that these teams are already small and will likely be charged with a broader scope of work.
Eighty-seven percent of companies already have CX or VoC teams responsible for multiple parts of the organization, even though 56 percent have teams of three people or less.
These teams tend to have only the most basic skills, with little or no knowledge of ROI modeling, data science, customer journey analytics, or even basic analytics, the research firm adds. “The ability to tell the story of the data, to perform advanced measurement and analysis of customer journeys, and to show ROI are critical to overgoing the insights-to-action gap that continues to plague these programs,” the report concludes.
To further highlight this gap, these teams still rely heavily (94 percent) on customer surveys and other solicited feedback, but only 37 percent effectively listen to customers’ unsolicited feedback.
Analysis is another area where most firms fall short, with only 40 percent saying they effectively analyze feedback. Such analysis is essential for understanding customer journeys, Forrester says.
Forrester calls on leaders to measure CX at three levels: relationship, customer journey, and touchpoint.
More than four in five surveyed said their companies do indeed measure at the relationship or touchpoint level, yet just a little more than half (56 percent) say they track CX during customer journeys.
“Most respondents say their programs can generate insights into the why behind the changes in CX metrics,” Forrester says, calling it “encouraging” that nearly six in 10 respondents (59 percent) say they can identify the economic drivers of CX. However, less than half (44 percent) consider themselves effective in providing the business impact of changes in CX metrics, with only a little more than a third (38 percent) able to connect operational metrics to customer perceptions and business outcomes at the individual customer level, which the research firm calls a critical step for making the case for CX.
Beyond customer feedback management platforms, many companies are also using business intelligence tools to support their VoC and CX measurement programs. While that is a positive step, Forrester also cautions that some firms might be overspending on CX technology, particularly if they are not analyzing unsolicited feedback or feedback across business silos.