“Organizations which unify customer communications management (CCM) and web content management (WCM) will receive higher value and improve customer experience versus organizations that keep CCM and WCM separate,” according to a recent Topdown study conducted by Forrester Consulting.
It’s no wonder that there is room for improvement, with 88% of respondents in the survey reporting dissatisfaction in their current customer-facing communications. Topdown reports that the three major pain points that emerged most strongly in their survey are:
1. Organizations are not satisfied with their ability to manage customer-facing communications across the entire customer journey.
It’s no wonder that there is room for improvement, with 88% of respondents in the survey reporting dissatisfaction in their current customer-facing communications. Topdown reports that the three major pain points that emerged most strongly in their survey are:
1. Organizations are not satisfied with their ability to manage customer-facing communications across the entire customer journey.
2. Organizations need CCM to merge into customer experience management (CXM).
3. Organizations want a web content management (WCM) system to serve as the core of a CCM solution, as indicated by almost all of the survey respondents (97%).
88% of respondents in the survey report dissatisfaction in their ability to manage customer-facing communications across the entire customer journey.
Earlier this week, we looked at Forrester’s latest report “Ten Trends Will Reshape Customer Communications Management,” which pointed to the inherent communication gaps between CCM and digital experience delivery (DXD) platforms. Bringing these two together under one central content repository allows organizations to truly deliver a consistent experience along the entire customer journey.
This is at the very core of why we are seeing this shift in companies today—the focus on customer-based metrics. According to Topdown’s study, the top reasons for respondents to integrate WCM-based CCM with their customer service platform were:
- Meaningfully increase customer satisfaction (48%)
- Achieve consistent and deep personalization (45%)
- Measurably increase customer loyalty and retention (45%)
- Measurably increase customer lifetime value (40%)
So, what’s stopping businesses from integrating these two? Yes, you probably guessed it: people, process and technology. No surprise, really. The solution, according to the survey, lies in the integration of all three across the enterprise and the business alignment of resources focused on customer experience goals.
There is no doubt that customer demand and preferences are reshaping service models of organizations. Customers want and require content in any channel, at any time, pushing organizations to be timely, consistent and relevant. Challenges of manual processes, tool limitations and disparate systems are cumbersome barriers to delivering superior customer experiences. Providing consistent customer touchpoints across all channels is, in fact, the minimum requirement for building lasting, rich and meaningful relationships with consumers of today. Therefore, the overwhelming response by respondents in Topdown’s survey, reporting “97% could foresee several benefits in combining CCM and CXM under a WCM-based platform,” should not be a surprise. It’s only the next logical step for organizations. I will be keeping a close eye on this converging market of CCM and DXD and the solutions that will certainly drive us to the next level of customer engagement.
For the complete results from the “Survey on Customer Experience and Customer Communications Management,” visit www.topdownsystems.com/2015-executive-summary-on-customer-communications-management/research.
To hear how today’s organizations, like USAA, Nationwide, TIAA-CREF, UnitedHealthcare, State Farm and many more, are building their customer experience strategies, join me at our event, the DOCUMENT Strategy Forum, May 12-14, 2015 in Greenwich, CT.
There is no doubt that customer demand and preferences are reshaping service models of organizations. Customers want and require content in any channel, at any time, pushing organizations to be timely, consistent and relevant. Challenges of manual processes, tool limitations and disparate systems are cumbersome barriers to delivering superior customer experiences. Providing consistent customer touchpoints across all channels is, in fact, the minimum requirement for building lasting, rich and meaningful relationships with consumers of today. Therefore, the overwhelming response by respondents in Topdown’s survey, reporting “97% could foresee several benefits in combining CCM and CXM under a WCM-based platform,” should not be a surprise. It’s only the next logical step for organizations. I will be keeping a close eye on this converging market of CCM and DXD and the solutions that will certainly drive us to the next level of customer engagement.
For the complete results from the “Survey on Customer Experience and Customer Communications Management,” visit www.topdownsystems.com/2015-executive-summary-on-customer-communications-management/research.
To hear how today’s organizations, like USAA, Nationwide, TIAA-CREF, UnitedHealthcare, State Farm and many more, are building their customer experience strategies, join me at our event, the DOCUMENT Strategy Forum, May 12-14, 2015 in Greenwich, CT.
Allison Lloyd serves as the editor of DOCUMENT Strategy Media, a management publication for executives, directors and managers involved with enterprise document, content and information strategies. Follow her on Twitter @DOCUMENTmedia.
