CX leaders are optimistic that their budgets will increase in the year ahead. But with inflation making those gains minimal, decisions on where to spend that budget are all the more important.
For all the talk of AI and new technology promising to improve CX outcomes, experts urge CX teams to invest in the basics with an eye on each businesses’ strategic objectives.
“We recommend investing in core CX capabilities, such as research to understand customers’ mental models and driver analysis to pinpoint CX improvements, with maximum impact to strategic outcomes,” Katy Cobain, VP and executive partner at Forrester, said in an email.
Deciding which initiatives to invest in begins with knowing your customer.
“Once you develop a keen understanding of your customers — their needs and wants, their hopes and aspirations — it helps clarify where you should be investing in improvements,” Jon Picoult, founder and principal of Watermark Consulting, a customer experience advisory firm, said in an email. “Achieving that requires a careful blend of quantitative and qualitative data — and rare is the company that strikes the right balance.”
Customer insight doesn’t mean endless surveys or journey mapping efforts, however. By narrowing the scope, CX leaders can get more bang for their buck.
To that end, Forrester urges companies to cut survey inquiries that are not directly related to customer objectives or specific CX initiatives. They can also eliminate journey mapping that doesn’t have a clear purpose.
Getting CX initiatives off the ground and into high gear requires buy-in and cross-departmental cooperation. Businesses can put resources to that effort as well.
“The need for cross-functional alignment is also greater than ever if you want to truly move the needle on CX quality and deliver connected experiences for your brand,” Cobain said. “Companies who do this well align around key customer journeys and then connect execution roadmaps and budgets accordingly.”
What about technology?
A survey from CX Network this May found that businesses were investing in automation and data analytics, and more than half of CX leaders expect spending on data analytics to increase this year.
Forrester’s survey found businesses were prioritizing technology investments, with about a third expecting to increase spending on technology above the rate of inflation.
But experts caution against blindly investing in technology, especially when it comes to AI.
“Too many companies get intoxicated by IT shiny objects, fervently pursuing new customer-facing technology without really considering if it truly enhances the customer experience,” Picoult said. “That’s how you end up with things like infuriatingly unhelpful AI chatbots, or voice-activated 800-line prompts that never route your call to the right place.”
AI-powered tools may promise to improve CX, but they can backfire without strong CX basics, accurate data or a sense of how it aligns with business objectives. To that end, Picoult warns CX leaders against making AI — or technology more broadly — a budget priority.
“Technology, in and of itself, is not a CX priority,” he said. “It’s just a means to an end — a tool that, if properly deployed, helps customers feel better about their interactions with a business.”
