Imagine a world where customers are loyal to your brand, not because of your products or prices, but because of the way you make them feel. This is the power of customer experience (CX); the ultimate differentiator in today’s crowded and competitive market. But how can you create a CX strategy that works in the era of automation and digital transformation when 59% of consumers1 feel that companies have lost touch with the human element of customer service?
Consumers today expect more from every brand they interact with, thanks to the innovations of companies such as Amazon, Netflix and Uber. In a phenomenon called ‘expectation transfer’2 the last best experience continues to raise the bar for CX with consumers expecting fast, convenient and personalized services. It’s sobering to think that whilst 69% of customers3 try to resolve issues on their own, 80% of digital contacts4 are still assisted at most brands.
With automation transforming how businesses operate and rapid advances in digital technologies, the rush to do things faster and cheaper can come at a cost to customer experience (CX) and brand loyalty. With the rapid advances in digital technologies and multitude of vendor offerings it’s easy to be taken down a technology led path resulting in impersonal and rigid technology that alienates customers. All too often this is imposed on them without considering their needs, preferences and emotions.
In recent times, ‘digital empathy’ has entered boardroom conversations as companies realize the importance of approaching technology through the lens of human experiences. Digital empathy is not a new concept, but it has become more relevant and urgent in the wake of the pandemic, which has accelerated the adoption of automation and digital transformation. With customers expecting businesses to understand them and their needs4, businesses need to approach technology through the lens of human experiences, and design solutions that are not only efficient and effective, but also empathetic and emotional.
Businesses need to embrace intelligent automation, which is automation that is designed with empathy and humanization in mind. Intelligent automation is not just about doing things faster and cheaper, it is about creating solutions that balance efficiency and effectiveness with empathy and emotion. Technology needs to augment human capabilities, not replace them. Think of it like having a smart and friendly assistant that knows your preferences, anticipates your needs, and adapts to your feedback.
Customers today want more than just fast and convenient services, they want to feel connected and cared for by the brands they interact with.
To stand out in today’s market, businesses need to deliver an experience that makes customers feel valued and understood. This requires intelligent automation, which combines efficiency and effectiveness with empathy and emotion. By designing technology with human experiences in mind, businesses can deliver solutions that augment human capabilities, not replace them, and build lasting customer loyalty.
We recommend a systematic approach, which we will cover in our next blog, that starts with the customer value proposition, design and delivery of the experience and finishes with a clear line of sight to business value realization.
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