82% of organizations say they have a dedicated CX sponsor
The vast majority of organizations have come to see customer experience design and management as a boardroom-level priority, with someone formally tasked with leading its transformation, according to research published by Sitel Group.
Based in Miami, Sitel Group surveyed more than 400 C-level decision makers across the U.K. and U.S. for its report, Customer Experience & Digital Transformation: Insights from the Boardroom.
The study found that, beyond the fact that 82 per cent say they have a dedicated CX sponsor, 69 per cent have that person attending C-level meetings in their organization.
In terms of professional background, 43 per cent of CX sponsors in the U.S. come from the IT department and a quarter come from finance. In the U.K., 31 per cent work in IT and 25 per cent work in marketing.
Overall, 80 per cent of those surveyed said their spending on CX programs will include. This included investments in new technology, which was cited by 51 per cent of U.S. respondents, as well as “speed of service,” cited by 39 per cent. The increased budget is also aimed at personnel: 36 per cent of those in the U.S. said they would be investing in knowledgeable staff.
“All organizations interviewed have a choice of tools and processes at their disposal, yet business leaders concur that structured feedback from CX representatives has the biggest potential to add value to their customer experience,” the report’s authors wrote. “As valuable as a CX professional’s insights may be, the greatest and most accurate insights are derived from collecting, collating and analyzing as many different and complementary data sources as possible, as often as possible.”
360 Magazine Insight
On the one hand, it’s somewhat surprising to see IT leaders appointed the dedicated CX sponsor in so many cases. In many conversations and even other research, I’ve heard marketers, such as CMOs, taking on this mandate, and to some extent customer service leaders as well.
Then again, the Sitel report moves back and forth between discussions of CX and digital transformation, and that obviously needs IT in the driver’s seat.
Like similar reports I’ve read, the Sitel research also includes survey data from consumers that reflects a disconnect in CX priorities. For those on the receiving end of customer experiences, for example, friendly staff was the No. 1 factor, while it wasn’t really mentioned from businesses.
Maybe this is because friendliness isn’t really something you can train for, and is rather difficult to measure.
In fact, it speaks more to the organizational culture and its predispositions in hiring — which makes you wonder if some of those dedicated CX sponsors should come from HR, or at least someone with a broader operational focus.
Lots of other great stats and insights in here, but bear in mind that it’s gated and by downloading you have to agree to be opted into receiving Sitel’s marketing via e-mail.
