We all know that customer experience is the new battleground.  There are lot’s of stats, studies and facts that say organisations that deliver a powerful customer experience are more profitable.

But according to the latest American Express Global Customer Service Barometer, only 24% of Australian consumers believe organisations have been improving their level of customer experience.

Why is that?  One hypothesis is quite grassroots.  There is a disconnect between what organisations are spending their money on and the customer listening tools they are investing in.  In 2017, a Bain & Co survey of 334 executives told us that more than two-thirds were investing heavily in big data to understand their customer.  But the latest E-Consultancy and Adobe Digital Trends report says that only one in ten organisations see themselves as ‘very advanced’ in respect to customer experience.

Weird.  You would think with all that investment, companies would be nailing their cx.

But when you think about it, how can looking at a set of numbers inform corporate decision makers when building a customer experience that should to be anchored in a customer need?  Doesn’t that require a conversation with the customer?

So maybe, just maybe, that is the problem.  The continual investment in big data and the lack of investment in small data.

Why not sit and talk to your customers?  Face to face?  Is it because it takes time?  Is it because it takes a certain skill?

There is proof though, that it drives better outcomes.  According to Hot Jar CX Trends for 2019, companies with successful CX initiatives prioritise talking directly to their customers much more than their less successful counterparts.

I will leave you with the wise words from the master A.G. Lafley, two times CEO at Procter & Gamble and a man we love here at BrandHook & Hearsay,

‘I am a broken record when it comes to saying we have to focus on the consumer.  I don’t think the answers are just in the numbers.  You have to get out and look’.