CX trends in 2019 and beyond

The Financier Worldwide article, “CX trends in 2019 and beyond,” quoted Russell Reynolds Associates Consultant Robert Voth on how new technologies are impacting the customer experience and the challenges that are arising as organizations adapt to these changes. The article is excerpted below.

Effective oversight and execution of a customer experience (CX) strategy can go a long way toward determining whether a company lives or dies. That said, even calculating the strategic value of CX is no easy task these days.

Many of the questions concerning strategy have been complicated due to the disruption that has taken place across the CX landscape over the past decade, much of it the result of revolutionary advances in technology. Thus, companies are increasingly looking to utilise technology in order to offer a better CX and increase the value it provides – to the customer and their business.

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In the view of Robert Voth, leader of the global consumer financial services practice at Russell Reynolds Associates, the most significant trend impacting CX in recent times is the 180-degree shift in the product development lifecycle. “For decades, banks started with the product – whether it be a checking or saving account, indirect loan or mortgage – and moved to competitive analysis, pricing, compliance, and then to distribution,” he says. “It was after the product was in the hands of the customers that support took hold and feedback was collected and delivered back into the next generation of products.”

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“Challenges also come from within the companies themselves – outdated processes, staid executives who lack diversified experiences, and decision chains that throw up roadblocks versus driving innovation and speed to market,” believes Mr Voth. “Great CX cuts at muscles that need to be reshaped and fitted for different purposes, and this means people get replaced. Traditional return on investment (ROI) metrics have changed, with CX playing the long game.”

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For Mr Voth, CX is among the top priorities for any business. “CX is the business; we cannot overstate that fact,” he says. “Loyalty is built from CX versus brand affinity, a shift that is putting stress on traditional marketers and product development executives.”

To read the full article, click here.