Gartner: Customer Data and Analytics Top Customer Service Priorities in 2023

Customer service and support leaders cited customer data and analytics as their top priorities for achieving organizational goals in 2023, according to a survey from Gartner.

In the survey, 84 percent of customer service and service support leaders cited customer data and analytics as "very or extremely important" for achieving their organizational goals in 2023; 80 percent ranked digital channel effectiveness as "very or extremely important," along with employee performance, development and quality assurance.

The Gartner survey revealed improving operations and growing the business are the two most important business goals for 2023.

"Understanding customers' needs and expectations for their service experience is integral for improving loyalty and creating customer value, especially when organizations are up against economic headwinds," said Jonathan Schmidt, senior principal od advisory in the Gartner Customer Service & Support practice, in a statement. "Executing on this vision requires investment in customer data and analytics, knowledge management, and an enduring partnership with IT."

In light of recent economic headwinds, 59 percent of customer service and support leaders plan to devote more resources to improving, automating, or eliminating inefficient processes in the near future; 51 percent plan on migrating service volume to digital and self-service channels; and 46 percent plan on contributing to the top-line by creating customer value.

"In tough economic times, customer service and support leaders are often encouraged by their CFOs to make do with what they have," Schmidt said. "Given how difficult it is to hire and retain talent, it makes sense that they are tackling inefficiencies and prioritizing digital channels as a strategy for driving down costs without reducing headcount or sacrificing customer experience."

With these survey findings in mind, Gartner recommends customer service and support leaders do the following:

• Collect actionable customer data across channels through a robust voice of the customer program that goes beyond surveys and incorporates more advanced methods, such as speech, text, and digital experience analytics. Leveraging these methods for decisions on personnel, processes and technologies, is key to a successful customer service function, the firm said in the report.
• Build digital self-service teams to oversee the digital channel strategy, manage channels like products, and work closely with data analysts to develop and measure success metrics.
• Enable customer service agents with technology, such as connected desktops, to help them better guide customers through resolution.