A guideline for CX management: The 2022 CEX Trend Radar

Customer Experience (CX) has long been more than a fad or a curious trend in marketing. It is the principal economic driver of differentiation – and, therefore, success in the marketplace. The number of approaches in this field equals the strategic (and operational) significance of the customer experience. The CEX Trend Radar by Prof. Dr. Nils Hafner and Harald Henn helps categorize and summarize the most important developments in the people, process and technology sectors. I recommend you read the entire analysis …

Management summary: The status quo and relevant trends

Here is my personal summary of the critical aspects of this year’s Trend Radar, which is by no means exhaustive:

• Connectivity and orchestration: Networked, coordinated campaigns and activities are replacing the previously dominant tactical-operational initiatives that were rarely embedded in the organization. While this development means initially that the implementation pace is decelerating since companies work with more complex and holistic CX concepts, it will lead to greater acceptance in all corporate areas in the future, thus ensuring greater success.
  The Trend Radar’s authors consider connectivity the common thread pervading their forecasts for 2022. While they do not expect companies to add new CX technologies in 2022, they anticipate “increased efforts to integrate data from different systems on one platform and to create a real-time link to the multi-experience world.”
  
• The employee experience: The employee experience will have a powerful presence in 2022. The (exceedingly critical) connectivity of data, systems and processes will only succeed if employees can and want to work together across departments and disciplines. The prerequisite for this is to make customer data accessible to the entire company (while complying with data protection guidelines, of course), and that is the much-cited 360° customer view.
  
  An important topic – and at BSI, we concur. Find out more about the employee experience starting on page 19 of the Trend Radar.
  

• The value-irritant matrix: Developed in 2006 by Bill Price, Amazon’s chief service officer at the time, the matrix is increasingly becoming a standard tool in customer service. When applying this concept, it is critical for a company to systematically link key process figures and customer survey results to its KPIs to make successes visible.
  
  To dive deeper into this topic, take a look at the CEX Trend Radar starting on page 31.
  

• Data and more data: Data is now setting the tone in the CX structure. Systems for customer insights, analytics, integration and connectivity are thriving, and data storage systems such as Customer Data Platforms (CDP) – for the (real-time) analysis of customer behavior and the design of customer journeys – are center stage.
  
  Starting on page 37, find the reasons that speak for the growing (strategic) importance of CDPs.

“Our forecast is this: In the long term, customer data platforms won’t be confined to marketing or sales but will also wind up in customer service. At the end of the day, customer journeys don’t end at departmental boundaries.”
Nils Hafner & Harald Henn

• The hybrid customer experience: The focus during the Coronavirus pandemic was initially to open up new communication channels to the customer. Thanks to video conferencing solutions, augmented reality or instant messenger, insurers, banks, energy suppliers, etc., have ensured that they can continue their sales efforts in proximity to the customer, albeit at a distance.
  
  Learn more about “Conversational Automation” starting on page 44 of the CEX Trend Radar.

Speaking of hybrid selling: Snapview, which has been part of BSI since 2021, offers ingenious solutions for banks and insurers in its product range, which, together with the BSI Customer Suite, facilitate the implementation of seamless sales journeys.