Business leaders are always curious about what is swaying their customers’ decision making and how that is driving investment decisions. As 2023 began, customer experience (CX) emerged as a top priority for B2C as well as B2B businesses, because eventually it is business-to-human (B2H).
According to Gartner, businesses are taking various actions to enhance customer experience and drive operational excellence and growth this year. Here are some research backed statistics to inform CX strategies, investments, and the link with business success –
- An astounding 65% of companies are planning to invest more in CX, with an average increase of 24%
- 63% of service and support leaders say improving their operations is among their most important goals for 2023 – as customers prefer self-service, business leaders are focused on improving the flexibility and effectiveness of the customer service capabilities (Source)
- Businesses are aware of the immense impact of improving customer experience. Companies that prioritized CX experienced a 2%-7% boost in sales revenues, and a 7%-10% overall increase in shareholder returns. (Source)
Industry-specific customer experience insights
There is a strong relation between customer experience strategies and average customer retention rates across industries. The ranking below shows how polarized customer retention is –
- Insurance: 84%
- Banking: 75%
- Retail: 63%
- Hospitality: 55%
- FinTech: 37%
- SaaS: 35%
- Media: 25%
- EdTech: 4%
With 21 portfolios companies across the Technology, Fintech, Edtech, and HealthTech industries, Blenheim Chalcot is closely involved with businesses like Fospha, Modulr, Kloo, HemeHealth, Researcher, Avado, EnglishScore, and more. This positions us to closely examine these industry-specific customer insights in relation to the customer retention rates.
IT and Information Technology Services
The macro-economic uncertainties, looming global recession, and changing data privacy guidelines have not dampened the positive industry outlook for IT and ITS. This is because business leaders across all industries are pressured to do more with less while driving operational efficiencies and monitoring the P&Ls.
- Striking the ideal balance between digital and human interaction in B2B’s complex customer relationships is crucial.
- Investments to enhance customer experience pays significant dividends. Studies have shown that companies that make substantial improvements in operational performance can raise customer satisfaction scores substantially.
- Utilizing Customer Service Technology, such as automation, AI, and machine learning, can create a more seamless customer experience and provide a competitive advantage. In fact, companies that have embraced such technologies have reported increased customer satisfaction and improved business outcomes.
- Creating a personalized, omni-channel experience and building lasting relationships while providing convenient digital solutions is paramount. Businesses that prioritize these elements have witnessed higher customer engagement and loyalty.
Finance and FinTech
According to a report by BCG, the overall financial services industry is enormous and very profitable yet struggles with innovation and customer experience. As the gender gap in account ownership dropped from 9% to 6% in Jul 2022, nearly 1.4 billion people worldwide remain unbanked. There is a sea of opportunities for technology and innovation to fill these gaps globally.
- The emergence of the B2B2X model and embedded finance is reshaping the financial services industry. This model, which already constitutes 25% of all fintech revenues, is meeting the growing demand for fintech solutions while offering innovative financial services to the unbanked or underbanked population.
- Fintechs are expected to become increasingly relevant in meeting the growing demand for fintech solutions¹. With rapid advancements in technology and changing consumer preferences, companies in this sector need to prioritize customer experience to stay competitive.
- APIs are transforming the way B2B banking is done. They enable banking services to be embedded directly into a corporate customer’s own platforms², resulting in a seamless and integrated customer experience.
- B2B FinTech companies are filling the gap left by traditional banks in SME lending and complementing traditional financial institutions³. By focusing on customer experience, these companies are gaining traction and becoming preferred partners for businesses.
EdTech
With one of the lowest customer retention rates, EdTech businesses need to adopt a purposeful B2B model that fosters long-term relationships with academic institutions. Their focus lies in gaining a comprehensive understanding of the customers, specifically the students and their requirements in the context of the industry.
- The emphasis on customer journey mapping (CMJ) for CX, allows companies to identify and display possible user paths in interaction with a company and build a communication strategy that enables decision making for learners.
- Large organizations view employee reskilling and upskilling as a necessity.
- B2B consumers want a business model that is intentional. They need better customer acquisition rates, lesser costs, low attrition rates, and creates a win-win for ed-tech platform providers, academic institutions, and the students alike. EdTech has a greater need for customer success strategies that involves tracking, engaging, educating, and building personalized relationships with customers.
HealthTech
As the COVID-19 pandemic catalysed telehealth, a mere 2.4% of healthcare appointments are scheduled online. The healthcare industry faces a need to further digitize personal health records, health data, and design smoother experiences that are focused on frictionless self-servicing. AI in healthcare is set to grow from 23 billion in 2020 to $194.4 billion by 2030, this is a strong indicator for the intensity of innovation focused on improving patient experiences.
- Patients prefer phone as mode of communication, placing a greater need for consideration in digital strategies for HealthTech businesses. Nearly 76% of patients called at some point during their healthcare journey, this is a 9% increase from 2021.
- HealthTech start-ups are using digital touchpoints to enhance customer experience and complete the continuum of care⁵. As of March 2023, 42% of patients would prefer to book appointments and access their health records online. Another interesting statistic highlights the CX disconnect, three out of 10 consumers who try to book a healthcare appointment online will succeed.
- Multiple artificial intelligence (AI) developers are building solutions to improve accuracy, turn-around times, the productivity of physicians, and overall efficiency of standard healthcare processes adopted by hospitals. AI-assisted diagnosis showed 33.7% improved diagnostic accuracy as compared to unassisted diagnosis.
How businesses can improve their customer experience
One key strategy is to collect actionable customer data across multiple channels through a robust voice of customer program. By doing so, companies can gather insights that inform their customer experience strategies and ultimately improve the overall customer experience.
These efforts are crucial as B2B customer experience continues to play a vital role in shaping industries. Businesses are focusing on delivering value, leveraging big data for decision-making, maintaining human-to-human connections in customer service, and building trust through their brand. Incorporating these customer experience insights into their strategies can elevate the B2B customer experience, drive growth, and thrive in the ever-evolving business landscape.
