Connecting omni-channel listening to the customer experience

Customer habits and expectations have changed. Have you?

In May of 2018, according to McKinsey, roughly 20% of customer interactions were digital, from a global perspective. In December 2019, that number had jumped to 36%. And by July 2020, driven in no small part by the COVID-19 pandemic, it made what McKinsey termed “a quantum leap” to 58%, almost a 3X increase from just two years prior.

In short, the customer experience has gone digital. Fast.

Here’s what you’re up against:

• 3.8 billion people connected online across the globe
• 2.5 quintillion bytes of data (that’s 18 zeros, if you’re wondering).
• Just since you started reading, a few hundred thousand tweets have been sent
• That’s just one of a list of 30+ digital channels, and counting
• Today, 5 million blog posts have been published
• Tomorrow, there will be 5 million more

Billions of people. Massive amounts of unstructured data. Countless public conversations. Personal, profound, profane, you name it.

Many of these conversations are about brands. Some of them, of course, are directly about your brand. Likes, dislikes, customer feedback, competitive insights, memes, industry trends, the next public relations nightmare; it’s all out there, happening in real time across an ever-growing number of disparate digital channels.

Delivering a personalized customer experience at scale

Hand in hand with this massive shift to digital channels is a similarly massive shift in customer expectations. Customers want an experience that is increasingly personal, real-time, and on the customer’s preferred channels. And that experience WILL be amplified, for better or for worse.

This is the challenge and opportunity your brand is facing: How can you listen to this vast amount of unstructured data, create actionable insights, and deliver a personal customer experience, at scale? While this creates new pressure for brands, it is also an unprecedented opportunity to hear and know customers like never before.

Digital conversations are happening, with or without you

In this digitally connected world, it is no longer enough to simply react to customers’ needs transaction by transaction, storefront by storefront. Whether it’s a new product launch or a new movie premiere, a huge volume of both instantaneous and unsolicited feedback is now the norm. Brands that capture these digital customer insights where they are happening and bring the voice of the customer into the heart of the enterprise can and will stand out from the competition.

Research shows that brands who align their social listening and digital research strategy to their customers’ expectations will not only improve their customer experience and protect their brand reputation, they will also grow their business.

In fact, data shows that customers who have excellent experiences with a brand spend 140% more. On the flip side, 96% of unhappy customers don’t complain, but 91% of them will simply leave, according to research by 1st Financial Training Services, giving you little opportunity to course correct until it’s too late.

There are three fundamental steps you can take to ensure that your brand is connecting with the modern customer personally, proactively, and at scale. They are:

• Build an omni-channel listening strategy aligned to modern channels
• Turn unstructured data into actionable AI-driven insights
• Democratize data and insights across your teams

Over the next couple of weeks we’re going to dive into each step on this list and explain how you can use these strategies to redefine your customers’ experience. Stay tuned for our next blog in this series, which will focus on building your social listening strategy. But, if you can’t wait, jump into the eBook now!

Download the 3 Steps to Transform Your Customer Experience with AI-Driven Insights eBook now.

Learn more about Sprinklr Insights.