Data is crucial in customer experience—how you measure it, protect it and analyze it plays a huge role in how customers perceive your brand. This week we saw three different applications of data in customer experience and how understanding and protecting data can create a better picture of customer expectations.
Government Agencies Score Lowest For CX
If government agencies aren’t front of mind when you think of organizations with great customer experience, you aren’t alone. The 2019 Forrester Customer Experience Index once again ranked federal agencies last among 16 industries. The government’s average score was 59%, far below the overall U.S. customer experience of 70.2%. Consumers had complaints about customer experience with the government job portal, the IRS and the Department of Education. Both Presidents Trump and Obama have made efforts in recent years to increase customer service in government agencies, but those efforts haven’t made much of a change yet. Only the National Park Service was in line with other industries, pulling in a score of 73.8%.
This news isn’t particularly shocking to anyone who has interacted with a government agency. However, the growing gap between the government and the private sector in customer experience should make the government take notice and hopefully make more impactful changes to how its agencies operate. In a time when most companies are endeavoring on digital transformations, the government should follow suit and find customer solutions that are proactive and convenient instead of falling into the trap of bureaucratic red tape.
Salesforce Acquires Tableau To Create Potential CX Powerhouse
One of the biggest stories in customer experience happened behind the scenes as CRM company Salesforce agreed to acquire analytics platform Tableau for $15.7 billion in stocks. Both companies say the acquisition will help provide data-driven customer solutions that will help drive digital transformations. The monster deal could impact the companies’ enterprise clients’ operations, but the full details of the acquisition and its impact are still relatively unknown.
Data is the foundation of a great modern customer experience, so bringing together a top customer platform with a leading analytics company could create powerful new products to help companies. The move also makes room for data-driven customer experience becoming mainstream and hopefully for a deeper understanding of data analytics for everyday users.
Amazon Sued For Child Privacy Breeches
Alexa may always be listening—especially to the smallest voices. Multiple lawsuits were filed against Amazon this week over claims that the company’s Alexa devices record kids without their consent and keep permanent recordings of users’ voices, regardless of who is speaking or their age. The lack of consent could go against recording laws in at least eight states.
Data privacy is a hot-button issue and plays a large role in customer experience. If these claims are true, Amazon could face major consequences in the court and from customers about keeping recordings of children. The two lawsuits are in California and Washington and could set the tone for privacy issues for other large companies. This story also highlights the need for companies to be honest and transparent with their customers, especially when it comes to data security.
Data drives how we track customer experience and is one of the most important things to protect. These three examples show that understanding all types of customer-facing data can lead to a better customer experience.
Blake Morgan is a keynote speaker, futurist and author of two books, “The Customer Of The Future” and “More Is More.” Sign up for her weekly customer experience newsletter here.