Global management authority McKinsey and Co. recently surveyed over 160 customer experience (CX) experts and executives, examining how the industry continues to evolve in the aftermath of the pandemic. Let’s look at the challenges these findings present.
More customers are calling more frequently
- 61% of respondents have experienced significant growth in customer contact due to both growing customer bases and increased incidences of contact per customer.
- 58% expect contact volume to increase in the next year and a half.
A growing customer base is great, but it does put a bit of a strain on the current CX capacity. More contact per customer causes a lot of strain, implying more complex issues and taking up more of both the company’s and customer’s time, potentially leading to dissatisfaction.
Digital CX isn’t quite there yet
- 77% of respondents’ organizations have built digital platforms, but:
- Only 10% of platforms are fully-scaled and adopted by customers.
- Only 12% are considered to be highly integrated platforms.
- Only 20% of digital contacts are completely unassisted.
Companies are providing facilities for digital CX, but migration, omnichannel integration, and other issues still need to be resolved before businesses can enjoy a satisfying return on their digital investments, which will only become more crucial in our increasingly digital-first world.
CX workers are leaving companies faster and getting harder to replace.
- 49%—virtually half—of all respondents saw a tangible increase in employee attrition over the past year. Reasons cited include:
- 58% = competitor poaching
- 39% = job dissatisfaction
- 31% = inadequate advancement opportunities
- 30% = deficient work-life balance
Large-scale employee attrition presents a challenge for any business. Still, given the previous uptrend in contact volume and complexity, it’s of particular impact in today’s CX field, meaning new hires can’t just be put in seats and expected to perform.
- 41% of respondents say it takes 3 to 6 months to train a fresh agent properly.
- 20% say it takes more than 6 months to achieve optimal performance.
So more customers are calling more often, and few are using unassisted digital channels. This puts more pressure on CX agents, who leave companies faster than they can be replaced.
These are the primary issues all businesses need to consider in shaping their CX strategies.