Regardless, here are some CX research insights that will put you on the path to better business resilience and growth …

Many separate independent studies have shown how companies in the Asia Pacific region (APAC) that invested in boosting customer experience (CX) are reaping benefits.

Those with more mature CX capabilities should logically improve business success in areas such as market share, increased customer-spend, and pivoting ability for resilience. 

One study by Zendesk surveyed more than 1,000 CX managers and leaders globally and found that APAC businesses with mature CX capabilities were over 10 times more likely to grow faster customer spend than those with less mature CX; and over four times more likely to increase their customer base.

CX champions lovingly nurture customer relationships every minute of the day,
while laggards try but fail because they treat CX as a chore.

Additionally, more than half of APAC businesses with mature CX capabilities said they were able to ensure seamless transition to remote work for customer service and support agents during the pandemic. 

Said Adam DeMattia, Director of Custom Research at ESG, which collaborated with Zendesk on the report: “Our research identified a clear connection between CX excellence and business growth. Companies that are at the Champion stage not only see better outcomes in traditional service metrics, such as resolution time and customer satisfaction, but they’re also experiencing positive business outcomes in customer spend, retention, and board-level support of CX as a business priority.”  

With that in mind, here are some valuable insights that the two firms have distilled from their research:

Five lessons from Customer Champions 

  1. Build a culture focused on CX, from the top down
    CX champions see CX as a critical business priority. They also have greater involvement from senior business leaders, with over a third of champions in APAC reviewing CX Metrics with C-Suite executives on a daily basis: 7.8 times more likely than CX newbies. 
  2. Do not forget your people
    Service and support continue to be an area of focus among CX leaders, with agents at leading APAC organizations receiving an average of about a day of additional training per year than CX up-starters. 
  3. Data-centric support delivers
    CX ‘champions’ place a focus on KPIs and metrics to guide their support decisions. In APAC, 74% of champions state their KPIs can be reported in real-time. 
  4. Automation and AI are making an impact
    Responding to the increased volume of data and rising customer expectations, 43% of CX champions in APAC make use of automated methods of building and updating cross-channel customer profiles. AI tools, such as automated chatbots, are also making an impact on support performance. 
  5. Invest in CX success
    When asked about plans for the next 12 months, nearly three-fifths (59%) of APAC CX champions expect their organization’s CX spend to increase significantly, versus just 7% among CX starters. Additionally, 13% of Singapore respondent organizations expect a significant increase in CX investment at their organizations over the next 12 months. 

“Starters not only have the challenge of catching up to their competition in customer service, but also ensuring the gap doesn’t widen,” added DeMattia. “To make these gains, it will be critical for leaders at CX-lagging organizations to make the most of their budgets by learning from their more mature peers and investing in the areas that can drive the greatest impact on their CX maturity.”