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3 Customer Engagement Trends to Watch in 2017
With 2016 behind us, we’re wondering what we can glean from the flurry of predictions, prophecies and prognostications for 2017. Here are three key trends to watch:
1. CMOs will spend more on tech than CIOs
According to Gartner’s annual CMO spend survey, as customer experience becomes the key to gaining a competitive advantage, CMOs will spend more on tech to support their CX goals. Gartner analyst Jake Sorofman states, “marketing often funds these cross-functional CX initiatives, sets the strategy, and designs the desired-state experience itself—and, in many organisations, owns and controls a growing preponderance of customer touchpoints.” In 2017, we’ll see leading marketing organisations expand to incorporate contact centre touchpoints with voice-of-the-customer analytics technology.
[bctt tweet=”#Marketing organisations will expand to incorporate #cctr touchpoints with #VoC #analytics” username=”Calabrio”]2. Customer-centricity shines a spotlight in the contact centre
Contact centres face higher expectations than ever—both internally and from customers. Earlier this year, Call Centre IQ reported businesses are aligning around the idea of “customer-centricity,” making the customer experience the “driving force for all key business stakeholders.” This shift puts the contact centre in the spotlight, with businesses looking to enhance customer experiences in order to increase retention, drive sales and deliver measurable business value. Achieving those business objectives means meeting the demands of the modern consumer: omnichannel interactions and personalised, intuitive service—right now.
3. Contact centres see the answer in the cloud
Adoption of cloud-based technologies has been accelerating in the contact centre world for several years. But Call Centre IQ reports that by 2017, one in four contact centres will rely primarily on cloud-based technologies—and 22 percent say they’ll move their entire operations to the cloud by year’s end.
What’s driving the move to the cloud? As Call Centre IQ explained, “leading cloud solutions serve to directly empower stronger customer experiences.” Innovative contact centres are leveraging the seamless integration offered by cloud technologies to engage with customers across any channel, with no gaps in connectivity, agent knowledge or service quality.
Moreover, by eliminating these gaps, they’re not just expediting service—they’re improving operational efficiency by empowering agents to deliver the right service, the first time. The resulting cost savings—on top of well-known cloud efficiencies like push-button deployment, outsourced management and exceptional scalability—help the contact centre tackle the challenge of improving the customer experience in the face of stagnant budgets.
[bctt tweet=”#cloud #cctr solutions empower stronger #CX ” username=”Calabrio”]Ready for 2017 and beyond? Start here.
Download the Definitive Guide to the Modern Contact Centre to learn how contact centres leverage the efficiencies and seamless integrations of cloud-based workforce optimization (WFO) to increase efficiency, align with key business objectives and deliver superior customer experiences.
As Chief Marketing Officer at Calabrio, Rebecca is responsible for lead generation and pipeline marketing, content strategy, customer marketing, and corporate communications. An unflappable veteran of Minnesota’s emerging technology industry with nearly 20 years of experience, Rebecca has been entrusted with millions in venture capital and the formidable task of building lead funnels, and differentiating and positioning entrepreneurial brands. Most recently, Rebecca was Director of Integrated Marketing for Code42—a data protection and security company—where she fueled a content-driven lead-gen strategy, customer engagement/advocacy and communications initiatives. Prior, Rebecca held marketing leadership roles at Trissential, Stellent, and Oracle. Rebecca holds a B.A. degree from the University of Wisconsin.
