Survey says an experience strategy can boost financial performance

Experience strategy: group of workers discussing business

The old saying “There’s no substitute for experience” has taken on new meaning in today’s digital environment. According to a ServiceNow/ThoughtLab global survey of 1,000 C-suite executives, adopting a comprehensive experience strategy that encompasses all experiences can help:

Accelerate business growth
Cultivate an engaging work environment
Improve customer satisfaction
Enhance products and services
Boost performance across all areas

“Organisations want to deliver seamless experiences to customers and employees. And today, the expectations of those two groups are becoming very similar”, explains Dave Wright, chief innovation officer for ServiceNow and guest editor of the Autumn 2023 issue of Workflow Quarterly.

“With recent leaps in artificial intelligence, companies are now in a great position to fundamentally change and improve that experience.”

Benefits of a holistic experience strategy

Leading organisations are focused on interconnecting four important areas:

Customer experience – customer interactions with a brand before, during or after purchasing a product or service
Employee experience – employee interactions throughout their employment
User experience – user interactions with an organisation’s products or services
Multi experience – an individual’s interactions across multiple digital channels and devices, such as mobile apps, websites, wearables, smart TVs and phones

Nearly half (47%) of leading experience organisations say an experience strategy gives their organisation a competitive edge, according to our research.

More specifically, eight out of 10 survey respondents said metrics to quantify customer, employee and user delight show gains across all experience segments. Executives reported increases in customer and user satisfaction, employee Net Promoter Score, customer retention, employee engagement and number of clicks.

In addition, respondents saw decreases in drop-off rates and employee turnover.

Financial performance also improved. Survey respondents said taking a holistic approach to experience can result in lower costs, greater profitability, higher revenue and increased market share. These benefits can in turn lead to improved brand loyalty and the ability to attract and retain talent.

Top benefits reported by leaders now: Reduced costs (80%), higher profitability (75%), increased revenue (74%), greater market share (62%), better ability to attract talent (53%), increased customer loyalty (51%), better products and services (51%), greater capacity for digital transformation (51%), new business models (51%)

Addressing experience challenges

Achieving those benefits requires overcoming obstacles, the biggest of which is satisfying the rising expectations of customers, employees and users, according to 49% of survey respondents.

Resistance to change, implementation challenges, outdated technology, organisational silos and lack of visibility also made the list. Although a comprehensive experience strategy can help provide a competitive advantage and make work more enjoyable, it can also expose people to data privacy risks and create an always-on environment.

To combat the challenges, experience leaders are taking steps to:

Form a strategy around best-of-breed experiences
Create a robust digital foundation
Blend technologies
Develop supportive skills, culture and goals
Adopt a shared value proposition across experience processes
Understand the pros and cons

People: The way forward

Three-quarters (76%) of experience leaders say integrating the four experiences through digital means is essential. They’re using a variety of technologies to enhance customer, employee, user and multi experiences.

Those technologies include internet of things (IoT), cloud, AI and machine learning, blockchain and robotic process automation (RPA).

Top technologies used by leaders now to support total experience: Internet of things/sensors (84%), cloud technology (82%), AI/machine learning (65%), blockchain (64%), data and analytics (63%), robotic process automation (51%), digital twins (45%)

Using AI to tailor experiences to customers, employees and users while unifying interface design and means of communication can help create seamless stakeholder experiences across the digital platform. Other solutions include self-service portals, digital twins to anticipate customer behaviour and multitouch technologies.

Leaders don’t lose sight of the fact that a successful experience strategy depends on people. Building strong teams with varied talent, a shared vision and proper coaching is vital. Toward that end, leaders are committed to developing an emotional brand connection for all customers, employees and users.

Gain more insights in the Workflow Quarterly Autumn issue.