Customer experience (CX) technology sets a new baseline but still struggles to satisfy many, finds NTT’s latest CX research

London, UK, 23September 2021 – NTT Ltd. today releases the 2021 edition of the Global Customer Experience Benchmarking Report (GCXBR), its highly influential annual survey assessing the global state of play for CX. Now in its 24th year, the latest GCXBR arrives at an important juncture to help organizations calibrate their rapid adoption of CX technology, revealing a significant gap in perceptions between organizations and consumers.

This year, NTT interviewed 1,359 professionals across 34 global markets and 14 different sectors. For the first time, the research also included a voice of the customer (VoC) survey, supplementing evidence from professionals with opinion from a consumer panel of 1,402 respondents.

In the context of a disrupted CX environment, responsibility for CX has been elevated to a significantly more senior level and confidence in CX has followed suit:

Organizations now expect that the majority of CX will be automated in twelve months’ time, with workloads handled by AI and robotics rising to 51% from 32% today, and over a fifth of interviewees reported that their use of AI or robotics is delivering beyond expectations.

The positive outlook from the industry was only partially echoed by the new VoC survey, however. Encouragingly, 87% are happy to continue using digital channels at the increased levels triggered by the pandemic, while 38% said that the quality of automated CX systems had improved over the course of the pandemic.

In other areas, the research found warning signs about the amount of progress yet to be made to fully meet consumer expectations:

With forecasts for next year showing high rates of organizations expecting to have implemented voice-activated AI assistants (52%), robotic process automation (48%), web-based AI assistants (45%), and other new technologies, these developments hold a lot of potential for businesses to differentiate themselves by more effectively solving customers’ challenges.

“The addition of VoC data this year has shone a spotlight on a really interesting situation,” comments Rob Allman, Vice President, Customer Experience, NTT Ltd. “It’s allowed us to spot a – potentially growing – disparity between how businesses assess their own performance and how consumers perceive CX. The fruition of new technology in the CX space is exciting, but the ultimate focus always needs to be on people.”

The need for the human touch

When asked about human-led support, 94% of CX decision-makers agreed that it remains critical – but less than half agreed that they have the technology in place to fully support remote CX employees. Meanwhile, 38% in the VoC panel stated that their biggest reason for avoiding digital channels is that they would rather speak to a human.

“Of course, technology has always augmented human capabilities”, concludes Allman. “This year, the key message of the GCXBR is to empower customers and employees through the use of data and AI-driven technology. People need to be at the center of any CX strategy, with technology in the service of superior customer and employee experiences that create value.”

Further details of the research, together with an in-depth analysis and recommendations for industry, can be found in the 2021 Global Customer Experience Benchmarking Report.

NTT Ltd. is a leading global technology services company. Working with organizations around the world, we achieve business outcomes through intelligent technology solutions. For us, intelligent means data driven, connected, digital and secure. Our global assets and integrated ICT stack capabilities provide unique offerings in cloud-enabling networking, hybrid cloud, data centers, digital transformation, client experience, workplace and cybersecurity. As a global ICT provider, we employ more than 40,000 people in a diverse and dynamic workplace that spans 57 countries, trading in 73 countries and delivering services in over 200 countries and regions. Together we enable the connected future.