• by Ray Schultz , Columnist, August 17, 2022

Brands are hampered by conflicting priorities when trying to provide a good customer experience. 

Fewer than half are investing significantly to enable algorithmic decision-making. And only 25% say their entire C suite is plugged into the digital vision (this mostly coming from C-level respondents), and 26% say the decision rests with one person.    

Other challenges include: 

• Quality of data — 32% 
• Cost constraints — 28% 
• Competing priorities — 25%
• Police and/or regulatory uncertainty — 25%
• Lack of customer insight — 20%
• Organizational disruption — 20%

Still, companies feel they are doing pretty well. Of those polled, 92% say they are good at putting the customer at the center of everything. And 93% feel they are effective at creating “fluid, connected experiences” in both the digital and physical worlds, 48% very much so.  

But only 37% award their customer experience an “A.” And anything less than that is risky, given the expectations of consumers, most of whom say they will switch to another brand if they are disappointed.  

Oddly, customers in some sectors are more likely to give highest the highest grade.  

For instance, 50% of bank patrons agree that the highest grade is warranted, as do 45% of health provider customers. 

Companies say they do the following:

• Update Products & Experiences Regularly — 78%
• Interactions with the Brand are Enjoyable — 77% 
• Interactions with the Brand are Convenient and Seamless — 74%
• Data is secure — 76%

And 81% of banking respondents state that interactions with the brand are enjoyable, and 895 that the brand reacted quickly to COVID-19. However, an impressive 91% of healthcare customers say their provider did so. 

Perhaps a more serious customer-company divide is on the priority list.  

Of the brands polled, 37% say personalization is a high priority, and 42% cite speed.  

But customers are more worried about security — 68% list it, versus 61% of companies. And 44% of customers cite simplicity, while only 35% of companies do. 

Meanwhile, 75% or brands say they are a product-focused organization. The top drivers in this area are: 

• Expected customer need — 28%
• Compliance or regulatory demands — 29% 
• Established customer need — 28% 
• Competitor moves — 15%

Here are their top three priorities for growth:

• Improved customer experience — 37% 
• Enhanced data capabilities — 35% 
• Increased stability through process improvement — 32%

Be Digital, West Monroe’s research initiative, surveyed 700 C-Suite executives in seven industries, and more than 5,000 consumers in Q4 2021.