Zendesk released new research in partnership with Enterprise Strategy Group (ESG) that shows how companies investing in customer experience (CX) are reaping the benefits. The global study found there is a clear link between organizations with more mature customer experience capabilities, and improved business success in areas such as market share, increased customer spend, and pivoting processes over the last six months.
The new report, CX Champions: How CX Leaders who raise their game are driving business success, surveyed more than 1,000 CX managers and leaders in North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Latin America to better understand their investments in CX. From the research, ESG developed a CX Maturity Scale that segments organizations into three tiers of customer service maturity, based on seven key characteristics that cover how organizations use their support teams, technology and data to drive better performance. ESG then classified businesses into three maturity categories: Starters, which exhibit zero to three of the seven characteristics; Risers, which have four to five of the characteristics; and Champions, which have at least six of the characteristics in place.
The research also found that, as companies around the world adapt to new ways of remote working and ongoing uncertainty in 2020, more than three quarters of midsize and enterprise businesses (78%) and nearly two thirds of small businesses (65%) said that customer-centric agility has increased in importance as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Organizations are under increasing pressure to rise above the competition and grow their businesses – that’s even more of a challenge as companies adjust to the impact of a global pandemic, and the associated uncertainty that lies ahead,” said Colleen Berube, Chief Information Officer and SVP of Operations at Zendesk. “In working with ESG, we set out to confirm the link between an organization’s ability to deliver a high quality experience and better business results. The relationship is clear. We hope these insights on the connection between a focus on customer experience and business success can help companies learn from those that are ahead on the CX scale.”
Some key findings from the report show that companies that invest in CX yield significant benefits, including: Faster growth: Even during the pandemic, midsize and enterprise Champions were found to be 8.7 times more likely than Starters to have significantly grown customer spend. For small business Champions, this figure increases to 9.2 times; Increased market share: Mid-size and enterprise Champions were 3.3 times more likely to have grown their customer base over the past six months. Small business Champions experienced similar growth, being 3.6 times more likely to have grown their customer base in the same period; Senior-level support: Champions also secured greater investment and support from senior leadership within their organization. For example, senior leaders at midsize and enterprise Champions were 3.8 times more likely to see customer service as a differentiator.
“Our research identified a clear connection between CX excellence and business growth. Companies that are at the Champion stage of the scale not only see better outcomes in traditional service metrics, such as resolution time and CSAT, but they’re also experiencing positive business outcomes in customer spend, retention, and board-level support of CX as a business priority,” said Adam DeMattia, Director of Custom Research at ESG.
