Only 22% of customer service leaders say their organization has completely unified customer data and a majority struggle with analyzing, utilizing, and sharing data.

Sprinklr, the unified customer experience management (Unified-CXM) platform for modern enterprises, announced the results of a new research report created in partnership with Customer Contact Week (CCW) Digital, Outsmarting Adversities | Customer Service Trends & Opportunities, which revealed alarming statistics for customer service teams and brands.

The survey found significant challenges throughout the customer service journey, from basic data collection to deploying advanced solutions like AI. More than half of all respondents said they struggle to even capture meaningful data about customers, and more than 6 in 10 are struggling with ineffective AI solutions.

“While challenges persist, it’s encouraging to see how many organizations are prioritizing investing in the right technology to unify customer service operations and help make their customers and agents happier.”

“Providing digital, personalized service is essential for companies to meet consumer expectations. Making these interactions more cost efficient and easier for agents is equally as important. Sprinklr and CCW have conducted this valuable research to help brands identify the gaps they must address to deliver on the promise of a truly unified, omnichannel customer service,” said Ragy Thomas, Founder & CEO, Sprinklr. n the promise of a truly unified, omnichannel customer service,”“The challenges uncovered go beyond customer experience and contact center teams. Insufficient intelligence hurts the entire business. Unified insight about what customers need and how they behave, can dramatically improve how every customer-facing function– from service, to sales and marketing, to product development operates. We’d like to help brands deliver the kind of customer experiences we all deserve.”

CCW Digital and Sprinklr commenced the research initiative in December 2022, and surveyed more than 300 global leaders in the customer contact and customer experience spaces to better understand exactly what is going wrong within the customer contact function.

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Key findings from the report include:

1. Digital and AI Deficiencies: 62% of brands acknowledge inconsistencies in their digital customer communication. This includes not communicating the same information and not staying true to their brand voice. The majority of companies are also struggling with ineffective AI solutions (60%) and insufficient resourcing (54%).
2. Disconnected customer experiences. Only 22% of customer service leaders say their organization has completely unified customer data. The findings are nearly as alarming for enterprise systems (30%), objectives and metrics (30%), contact channels (33%), and departments (34%).
3. Impersonal Interactions. A non-trivial 11% of respondents admitted that they make no effort whatsoever to personalize interactions. Another 36%, meanwhile, limit personalization efforts to referencing “basic profile details” in some or all communication. The remaining 53% are making strides toward personalization, but only 12% of all respondents are predicting customer needs and proactively tailoring interactions based on specific needs, intentions, or sentiments.
4. Insufficient Insights: Nearly 51% of brands say they are struggling to even capture meaningful data about customers. 67% of companies face difficulty analyzing customer data. 64% struggle to unify data. 63% report challenges using data to improve customer experience operations. And a majority have trouble empowering frontline agents with relevant context (58%), and sharing insights outside the contact center (55%).

Thomas continued, “While challenges persist, it’s encouraging to see how many organizations are prioritizing investing in the right technology to unify customer service operations and help make their customers and agents happier.”

Leading companies are taking a number of actions to tackle these challenges, with 53% viewing AI to power chatbots and improve customer data as a paramount focus for 2023 and more than 69% planning to invest in technology that reduces agent effort.

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