• by Ray Schultz , October 6, 2020

Businesses are toning up their customer experience (CX) practices in response to the COVID-19 pandemic even as many firms have taken financial hits, according to Why CX Teams Will Play A Critical Role in COVID-19 Recovery, a study by SurveyMonkey. 

Of the companies polled, 47% have experienced revenue growth during the crisis, and 32 have achieved stability. But 21% have seen financial decline since the pandemic began.

Collaboration appears to be key — 67% of collaborative firms have seen growth. 

In response to COVID-19, brands have taken the following actions:

- Gathered feedback from customers and employees — 38%

- Increased focus on customer retention and loyalty — 37%

- Changed their business strategy — 31%

- Released updates or improvements to existing products or services — 30%

In addition, 75% are accelerating new or planned digital transformation initiatives due to COVID-19. Some of these doubtless include email improvements. 

Moreover, 87% say that customer feedback has become more important during the crisis. And 80% say their online interactions have increased since the pandemic began.

Another 60% have added customer touchpoints during the crisis.  

In addition, 54% agree that there has been an increased interest in CX in the C Suite since the onslaught of COVID-19. In fact, 89% of the 305 C-level executives polled claim to be “extremely invested” in CX.  

Among agile companies, 50% have seen revenue growth and 57% feel prepared to withstand an economic downturn. Only 18% experienced a decline.  

In contrast, only 26% of slow-to-adapt companies saw a revenue increase, versus 40% that saw a decline.  Of the firms rated as successful, 51% are able to adapt to changing customer needs very quickly.  

The top challenges to creating CX are:

- Connecting CX data with operational data — 48% 

- Continuously proving value and getting executive buy-in — 47% 

- Moving from departmental touchpoints to holistic customer journeys — 43%

SurveyMonkey surveyed 1,777 professionals involved in the CX)or Voice-of-the-Customer (VoC) programs at their companies.