Forrester's CX Summit APAC 2024 event in Sydney next week will focus on why the pressure on customer experience teams in a tight trading environment reinforces the need to prove the ROI of CX, along with the growing importance of AI, Forrester analyst, Riccardo Pasto says.

"We went through challenges over the past couple of years, and there is still a lot of economic pressure impacting organisations. I see a lot of CX professionals being impacted personally. They are either losing their jobs because the function is just gone or they are being absorbed by other parts of the organisation," Pasto says.

This is something Forrester predicted would happen several years ago. That didn’t happen right away, Pasto tells Mi3, but it is happening now.

“We seem to be on a delayed fuse," he says. “The [tech] job market this year is much tougher than it was. It was only two years ago when this was booming. All of this is impacting CX as well.”

Need to prove ROI

For Pasto, all this this reinforces the need for CX teams to be able to prove ROI – and by extension their value to the organisation.

"We've been talking about proving the ROI of CX, and making a business case for CX, making sure that initiatives are tied to business results. I get very excited when we are able to establish those linkages," he says.

An example is a government department Forrester works with where the goals are more about service delivery than revenue. 

“The client estimates that between 30 to 35 per cent of those outcomes can be explained by customer experience quality. That might not sound like a lot,” he says. “But I think it establishes credibility, first and foremost."

Pasto says it is also important to recognise CX design and delivery is not the single standalone contributor to ROI, but part of a wider mix.

"CX is certainly one of the main ones, depending on the organisation. But by doing the computation, the analysis and the assessment, CX professionals can demonstrate to their peers and their bosses why the investment is worthwhile."

Short-termism

Pasto also sees too much focus still on short-termism. “That can lead to poor behaviours," he continues.

"By focusing on short-term benefits you can end up hurting loyalty, you end up hurting your reputation, and the trust that customers have in you”.

Instead, Pasto recommends organisations be guided by the long-term strategy and values of the business. “How do we actually reflect those values, and then turn propositions into actual experiences? Design teams are struggling to deliver on that, and to make that conversion.”

One problem he flags is that many CX teams lack the internal clout to impact the big picture – he cites recent research suggesting the figure is probably the majority.

“That’s a problem.”

Insights from customer feedback an AI priority

To add to the complex environment CX professionals are working in, Pasto says these executives are increasingly being asked to help incorporate AI into the way their organisations work.

“Speak with any CX professional, and the chances are nine out of 10 are thinking about deploying this technology," he says.

The immediate priority is generating insights from customer-facing systems – and internal systems that contain important customer data such as feedback. Overall, the goal is to use AI to better understand customer needs.

“These could be log files, or call transcripts, for instance. However, CX professionals still rely heavily on open-ended questions in surveys. The ability to analyse all of that data and to understand it, that really is the top use case today,” Pasto says.

Pasto also notes the platforms CX professionals use in their day-to-day jobs are likewise being infused with generative AI.

“It is all about efficiency. The application today is not to replace the knowledge and expertise of a CX professional researcher or a designer, but basically make the jobs faster and better," he adds.

Mi3 is a media partner for Forrester's CX Summit APAC 2024. Visit the event website for more details.