Calabrio: C-Level Execs Rely on Limited Data to Drive Business Change

Calabrio Study: C-Level Execs Rely on Limited Data to Drive Business Change

Sudipto Ghosh

March 26, 2018

New Findings by a Calabrio Report Show Organizations Ignore Crucial Sources of Customer Feedback, Thus Missing out on Opportunities to Meet Customer Expectations

Companies know they must adapt to change to compete, but often don’t rely on a wide enough lens into data to drive change. A new study announced by Calabrio last week, titled, “Business Transformation and Analytics: Driving Change in a Customer-Centric World,” revealed that 85 percent of executives know that data and analytics are critical to informing sales and marketing changes within the business. Yet, 39 percent admit to relying too heavily on one data point. What’s more troubling, 68 percent of executives admit to avoiding a major change initiative unless there is a problem.

Commissioned through VI.GA Consulting, the study of more than 1,000 C-suite executives in the US and the UK was carried out in February 2018.

Commissioned by Calabrio, a leading provider of customer engagement and analytics software, the study surveyed more than 1,000 C-level business executives in the US and the UK to explore the factors that compel change and identify the data sources they use to inform decisions.

Business leaders know transformation is certain as 60 percent of respondents have made a significant sales or marketing change in the past twelve to eighteen months, citing fluctuations in revenue (49 percent) and direct feedback from customers (39 percent) as the top initiators of those changes.

However, executives are informing decisions based on a limited set of data points that are often the easiest to derive. While revenue figures (36 percent) and social media (20 percent) are the most influential sources, companies lack the full insight to confidently and effectively drive change.

Despite the heightened focus on customer experience, businesses still ignore sources that deliver the voice of the customer. Instead, executives draw opinions from biased sources such as ratings and reviews (49 percent) and social media (40 percent), while democratized sources such as the contact center remain relatively untapped (12 percent).

At the time of this announcement, Tom Goodmanson, President and CEO at Calabrio, said, “Executives recognize the value of analytics but it’s alarming that so many are underutilizing this powerful tool.”

Tom added, “When companies have a narrow view of what’s actually happening in the business, they may be skewing decisions and, even worse, making changes that don’t deliver what customers want. Often overlooked, the contact center provides reliable, balanced information that can ensure change initiatives reflect the true needs of the customer and the way to get this information is through analytics.

Calabrio is a customer engagement software company that provides analytic insights to catalyze growth through customer service contact centers. The Calabrio ONE® software suite empowers everyone in an organization, from contact center agents to the CEO, with easy-to-use tools that provide a better understanding of the customer.