#54 - Budgets, Generative AI, Customer AI explained, benchmarks, some fun reading, and more

Welcome to my 54th Customer Analytics Newsletter here on LinkedIn. Quite a lot of topics this time. Here's the list:

• Most modern CX problems cost money to solve, and CX leaders don't have much.

• ChatGPT and suchlike are making a big difference in support quality, but . . .

• Customer AI software architecture and analytics explained.

• How Customer AI transforms the work and insights of CX and VOC teams.

• New UK Consumer benchmark report from Bain and InMoment.

• Marketoonist on survey fatigue

I hope you enjoy reading this newsletter. If so, please forward on to your colleagues and friends, suggesting they subscribe.

Now, let's get on with the show.

Most modern CX problems cost money to solve, and CX leaders don't have much

Most of you readers are customer experience professionals. Those who work in customer success may be a bit more fortunate. Here is what I mean: it takes people and money to improve customer experience measurement and to implement improvement initiatives. Traditionally, CX leaders have budgets and people to manage survey processes, and to report out on the results. That's all, and it's just not enough.

If this were an easy problem, we would all have solved it by now. My main suggestion is to work out which leadership team member would benefit most from your work and the improvements you want to implement. That's usually the sales manager, as they are probably measured on customer retention and growth. The CFO is also a great ally if the benefits you want to achieve are not immediate. You also need their support for whatever form of Customer Lifetime Value calculation you will use for your proposals. CX often reports to marketing, and it is fairly unlikely that your proposals will support their objectives, though you may be an exception, I suppose.

Anyway, this may seem a bit depressing but that is not my intention. Just reach out to, and partner with the people who will benefit most from your work and your investment proposals. That will take you to a happier place.

ChatGPT and suchlike are making a big difference in support quality, but . . .

I suppose I should not be surprised that Generative AI is making great inroads in support. Where humans are still involved, it usually improves the quality of their work. Where no humans are around, well, yes, the new software does a better job that the bots we used to have to deal with. However, there is some evidence that humans are being laid off due to the improved quality. Older chat systems run out of knowledge quite quickly and hand you over to a human. It's harder to get through the AI with the new solutions. Perhaps more importantly, there are fewer of us humans around to check on the quality of the output.

I am talking from experience here. Back in early March, when I was learning to use ChatGPT, I had to help our CEO, Richard Owen, to prepare to interview someone for a podcast. I was to suggest questions to ask, and to send them on to the interviewee. I did not know this person at all, so I asked ChatGPT to tell me what he was known for. The answer I got was that he was famous for a particular marketing framework and ChatGPT provided me reasonably full details of the main elements.

I included a question on that framework on the list I sent. Surprise! Our guest had never heard of the framework and it had nothing at all to do with him. I had no way of knowing. I thought I had high-quality information, but I did not. Now I have learned that everything it says needs to be checked. So, message for you support managers: don't eliminate the people who know how to tell the difference between the correct advice and something that Generative AI just makes up.

Interesting content from OCX Cognition

• Customer AI Software Architecture and Analytics Explained is the title of a fabulous six-page document on the subject that our co-founder and head of products Brian Curry put together. We launched it about ten days ago, and Brian has updated it again this week to provide a few further clarifications. It's a great read. I guarantee you will learn something new.

• On the same general subject, here is a page that describes how Customer AI transforms the work and insights of CX and VOC teams. It includes a link to a recent interview on the subject with Jim O’Brien, Sr. Program Director for VOC at Conga. I think you will like it, and again, I am certain you will learn something new. Enjoy!

Interesting things from elsewhere

• Bain and InMoment have published State of Customer Experience: 2023 UK Consumer Study, which provides double-blind benchmark NPS results by industry and by major brand within each industry. You can also access a simple bar chart that compares industries with each other by looking at Fred Reichheld's LinkedIn post on the topic here. When looking at the chart, please remember that comparisons between industries are totally irrelevant, simply because industries don't compete with each other. If your score is above average for your industry, you will probably gain market share.

• Far more entertainingly, there is a great new Marketoonist article on survey / ratings fatigue. It does of course include some of Tom Fishburne's fabulous cartoons. Have a look here.

Notes

OCX Cognition predicts customer futures. Our breakthrough Customer AI solution lets enterprises transform what’s possible in customer experience. Reduce your customer risk, break down silos, and drive speedy action – when you can see what’s coming, you can change the outcome. Building on more than 100 years of CX-focused expertise in our small team and thousands in teams we have led, we’ve harnessed today’s advances in AI, elastic computing, and data science to deliver on the promise of customer-driven financial results. Learn more at www.ocxcognition.com.

Maurice FitzGerald is a retired VP of Customer Experience for HP's $4 billion software business and was previously VP of Strategy and Customer Experience as well as Chief of Staff for HP in EMEA. He and his brother Peter, an Oxford D.Phil in Cognitive Psychology, have written three books on customer experience strategy and NPS, and a fourth book that focuses on Peter's cartoon illustrations for the first three. All are available from Amazon.