In B2B World, Earnings Hinge on Customer Service
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Influential Factor
71% of executives said their customers' rising expectations for a convenient experience affect how to engage with them. -
Continuous Monitoring
70% said their customers are always monitoring and evaluating their suppliers; this requires a more flexible, ongoing engagement. -
Useful Knowledge
93% of master customer experience B2B organizations understand the importance of customer experience strategy and execution capabilities, compared with 57% of laggard organizations. -
Data-Driven
65% of masters value customer metrics as a way to lend insights to improve the customer experience while only 10% of laggards do. -
Big Spend
78% of masters plan to increase their customer experience budget significantly in the next fiscal year, as opposed to just 20% of laggards. -
Motivated Workforce
91% of masters provide employee incentives to achieve needed customer experience outcomes while only 47% of laggards do. -
Watchful Eye
93% of master businesses reported that they're good at tracking overall customer experience delivery to measure the value impact and identify improvements while 61% of laggards said they are. -
Simplifying Matters
92% of master companies indicate they perform well in dealing with complexity organization-wide, compared with 51% of laggards. -
Team Approach
90% of master organizations consider collaboration throughout functions and with partners important, but only 55% of laggards do. -
Enlightened Interactions
93% of master businesses indicate that they perform well in identifying differentiated experiences that align with customers' needs and expectations, compared with just 55% of laggards.
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Why Metrics Matter to the Channel B2B companies that invest in improving customer experience are reaping huge rewards, according to recent survey from Accenture. The report, titled "B2B Customer Experience: Start Playing to Win and Stop Playing Not to Lose," reveals that these customers are significantly raising their expectations. Although most B2B organizations understand this affects their competitive edge, only one-fourth excel at defining and executing a customer service strategy, a quality that contributes greatly to their 13 percent annual revenue growth. In contrast, nearly three out of 10 B2Bs noticeably underperform here and their revenue growth stands at negative 1 percent. The report divides these two groups into "masters" and "laggards" to describe how they provide customer experience. "The performance gap between the masters and laggards is more dramatic than you would expect, given both groups cite customer service as a strategic priority," said Robert Wollan, global managing director of Accenture's sales and customer services practice. More than 1,450 executives at B2B companies took part in the research. Here are key takeaways from the report.