Dive Brief:
- Nearly 2 in 5 senior contact center and CX decision-makers would like to see organizational leadership use customer experience data to make better, data-led decisions around the adoption of new technologies, according to a survey of 700 senior leaders released by CallMiner last week.
- However, nearly half of respondents said there is lack of communication between departments, and 2 in 5 said there is a lack of clarity on how to act on data insights when aligning CX feedback across the business.
- It’s up to CX leaders to fix this gap in communication, according to Deborah Alvord, VP analyst with Gartner's global customer service and support research group. Cross-department coordination breaks down when CX teams aren't collecting or conveying the data other teams need.
Dive Insight:
Customer experience teams can influence the rest of the company by learning to communicate how their data can assist other business leaders.
CX teams can start by understanding the priorities of different functions within the organization, according to Alvord. Aspects to look at include the outcomes other teams are held accountable for, the performance metrics they track, and the basis for their bonus pay.
From there, the CX department can examine its data and find where it aligns with other teams’ needs. They can pay special attention to any gaps in the data that CX metrics can fill.
“You collect the CX data that aligns to their priorities and their needs, that aligns to the gaps that they have, and you present that to them,” Alvord said. “Then you follow up to ensure that action was taken on the data.”
The result of this process is a tangible measurement of how the CX team’s data impacted other departments, from marketing to supply chain, according to Alvord. Leaders need to present results, including the return on investment for the data presented, to help others understand what CX teams need and can provide in return.
For example, product teams tend to be more focused on getting a new item out of the door than collecting sales data. They may not think about the “gold mine” of feedback the customer service team is collecting from Voice of the Customer data, according to Alvord.
“Many times the product team is so focused they’ve got blinders on, and they don't think about it,” Alvord said. “They’re just on the receiving end of the data.”
Product teams aren’t unique. The onus is on CX teams to reach out to other departments and learn about their needs. Customer experience is a valuable source of feedback and insight — provided leaders can help the rest of the business understand its value.
