Customer experience (CX) is more about “any channel” connections rather than omni-channel connections, Oracle CX Cloud vice president and head CX evangelist Des Cahill says.
As the experience economy continues to flourish, Cahill says brands can no longer rely on consumers to just contact them.
“In an experience economy, it's really I have to go to you,” Cahill says.
“So, if you prefer to hang out on WeChat or you prefer to hang out on WhatsApp or on Facebook Messenger or whatever your platform is of choice, I've got to make it easy for you to get information from me or transact with me in those channels.”
The launch of the first iPhone in 2007 and other technology like the cloud and web 2.0 were what Cahill calls “seminal” moments in the growth of the experience economy.
Since then, the bar has continued to be raised across industries.
“It's taken businesses a while to catch up and realize that,” he says.
“When you look at data from people like Gartner who measure the I.T. investment priorities of CEOs and boards, the number one or number two priority for the last three or four years has been customer experience.”
As these big companies play catch up though, the rise of tech players and digital disruptors pose a threat.
Cahill says these new and innovative companies are providing customers with a better experience without all the added layers that older businesses may have.
“These start-ups are more free to innovate and then customers that are looking for that change are free to change for them with a swipe left or right swipe,” he says.
Let’s get personal
CX and the experience economy have been driving forces in the growth of personalisation but as it ramps up the debate on where to draw the line is still a murky one.
Brands should be wary of the level of personalisation they plan to execute to ensure they aren’t overstepping the mark.
Cahill says certain industries, as well as a consumer’s behaviour and level of consent, should determine where to draw this line between a personalised experience and a creepy one.
Those operating in more discrete industries such as medical or financial services should operate differently to someone like a retailer.
“If I'm working with my bank or my healthcare provider or my utility provider, I don't want them to talk to me about going to Mexico or travelling,” Cahill says.
“Why should they know that I'm leaving? That's not it's not relevant to how they deliver service.
“I want secure information from my medical provider and access to an archive of secure information. I want my bank to be a place where I can quickly do transactions, but I don't need to know anything beyond that. So I think it's very situational.”
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