• by Ray Schultz , Columnist, March 7, 2022

Email is almost universally used as a customer support tool and platform. But social and phones are tied for a close second, and leading brands are turning to SMS, judging by "A 'Total Experience’ Approach Can Transform the Customer Experience," a global study from CX platform Avaya, conducted by IDG Communications.  

Among those polled, 60% say they have a cohesive customer experience strategy. But that percentage totals only 50% in the U.S. and UK, versus 76% in India and 74% in the Middle East and North Africa. 

Overall, they are hampered by these challenges: 

• Data accuracy/quality — 40%
• Real-time data integration from multiple sources — 34% 
• Data in siloed systems — 32% 
• Lack of in-house data science skills — 27% 
• Lack advanced visualization capabilities — 27%
• Lack real-time analytics platform — 24% 
• Right data is not being collected — 23%
• Inadequate data governance — 20% 

In general, brands are using these standard customer support tools and platforms:

• Email — 97% 
• Social — 94% 
• Phone — 94%
• Text chat — 84% 
• SMS — 60% 
• Messenger — 57%
• Video chat — 45%
• Chatbots — 42%
• Virtual assistants — 36% 

But companies that score highest in providing a total customer experience are utilizing:

• SMS — 61%
• Messenger platforms — 64%
• Video chat — 53% 

This is taking place as 73% of U.S. companies say they offer good experiences, and 71% report good customer interactions.

In addition, respondents agree that a good customer experience includes:

• Empowered employees (employee experience) — 82%
• Personalized interactions in moments that matter Multi-experience) — 83% 
• Interaction of humans, data and technology (User Experience) — 83% 

Drilling down, 59% of companies say they provide a good total experience and 35% offer an average one.  

And only 46% rate the employee experience as good, and 38% as average. But this area also has the highest rating of "poor" —at 12%, versus 6% for the total experience. 

Their customer satisfaction scores range from average (38%) to good (53%). 

The takeaway: “A monolithic, one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t meet the wide range of needs businesses and their constituents have,” states Simon Harrison, senior vice president and chief marketing officer, Avaya. “When companies intentionally combine customer, employee, user and multiexperience thinking, they elevate everything these approaches can achieve on their own – enabling them to deliver exactly what’s needed at every interaction.”

IDG surveyed 469 leaders at enterprise-level companies with 500 or more employees from August 12, 2021–September 15, 2021,. The respondents included managers or higher-level executives working in IT, customer experience, or operations.