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Australian businesses slow to go digital to meet growing customer demands

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Australian businesses slow to go digital to meet growing customer demands

Improving customer experience is the top driver for digital transformation, both in Australia and globally, followed by customer demands for digital, according to a newly published report on the digital marketplace.

According to the report, from global ICT solutions company Dimension Data, organisations around the world are failing to implement effective digital strategies and, as a result, their customer experience (CX) solutions are becoming disjointed. Digital is not displacing traditional phone interactions at the speed that customers are demanding.

Less than 10% of organisations overall, and just 6% of Australian respondents, said they had an optimised strategy for digital business in place.

And, while over half (or 51%) reported they did not have a plan at all or are, at best, in the process of developing one, in Australia, this figure was higher, at 55%.

{loadposition peter}The survey also reveals that more than 84% of organisations can evidence an uplift in revenue as a result of improved CX, while 79% report cost savings. In Australia, 82% of organisations reported an increase in revenue, while 78% reported cost savings.

Yet, the survey also reveals that just 36% of respondents — and only 28% of respondents in Australia — have appointed a board-level executive who is responsible for customer experiences, and organisational disconnects mean digital solution functionality is not meeting customer requirements.

Instead, high performing companies that have committed to the opportunity created by the digital revolution are outpacing established market leaders, the research reveals, also showing that the top quartile organisations are performing up to 10 times better than their counterparts.

According to Joe Manuele, Dimension Data’s group executive, CX and Collaboration, “the world has formed a digital skin and business, service, technology and commercial models have changed forever. However, organisations are strategically challenged to keep pace with customer behaviour”.

Manuele says that the absence of a connected digital strategy means that even when digital solutions are available, the customer is frequently not aware.

“The digital dilemma is deepening, and organisations need to choose a path between digital crisis or redemption,” he cautions.

Dimension Data’s research also found that emerging CX robotics is also creating a new reality.

Virtual assistants (ie. chat bots) were voted the top channel growth focus for 2017, and IoT deployments are set to double, demanding a new approach, according to Dimension Data.

Michael Slip, Dimension Data Australia general manager, CX and Collaboration, said: “Pioneers of the digital age have reimagined business models and processes that have changed customer behaviour, and the choices organisations make with their CX and digital strategies will define the future success of their organisations.”

Other key findings in the 2017 Global CX Benchmarking Report are:

  •      CX was voted by 82% of Australian participants as a competitive differentiator, and is the number one most important strategic indicator of performance.
  •      81% of Australian research participants forecast increases in assisted-service volumes; 71% a rise in fully automated digital contacts; and 59% anticipate overall interactions to grow.
  •      Customers have a choice of nine channels with which to engage with organisations – now the norm in organisations. This number will rise to 11 by 2018.
  •      Connected customer journeys via omnichannel (integrated) solutions is the top technology trend for 2017. Omnichannel solutions, alongside customer analytics, was listed as the top factors to reshape CX capability in the next five years.

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