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74% of brands think they’re providing good or excellent personalised experiences – consumers disagree

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Research has revealed a trust gap between UK brands and consumers – while 74% of companies state they do personalisation well, less than half of consumers (42%) agree.

Despite this, both parties agree that personalisation is key to increasing brand loyalty, with UK customers spending 43% more on their products when engagement is personalised. And while 70% of them believe that personalisation increases brand loyalty, 83% of consumers hold this view globally.

That’s according to to Twilio’s third annual State of Customer Engagement Report, which reflects findings from a survey of 3,450 business leaders and 4,500 consumers across 12 countries, including the UK.

With tech giants like Amazon and Netflix setting the benchmark for personalisation, customers now expect brands to deliver accurate, tailored customer services and experiences.

According to the survey, 70% of UK consumers believe that having personalised interactions with brands increases their chances of going back to that brand for a product or service, building positive relationships and increasing brand loyalty. This is even higher on a global level, with 83% of consumers agreeing that personalisation improves customer relationships with a brand.

Companies are in agreement on the importance of personalisation in their customer engagement strategy, as this translates into increased spend. Brands report that UK consumers spend 43% more on their products when interactions are personalised. For companies in the retail and eCommerce industry, personalisation is even more critical, with 91% of these companies rating personalisation as ‘extremely’ important for their customer engagement strategies.

Although consumers and brands agree on the importance of personalisation, consumers have a distrust of the way that brands are using their personal data. The survey reveals a trust gap: while 97% of UK businesses believe that their customers trust them to protect their data privacy, only two in five UK consumers (39%) have faith that these businesses will do so.

The results reveal that lack of transparency is the main reason customers have trouble trusting brands with their data. Findings suggest that 39% of UK consumers believe companies aren’t clear about how organisations use their data, and 40% don’t believe that businesses use only first-party consented data in their personalisation. Building strong relationships with customers, using personalisation, therefore requires businesses to address trust issues around data handling to add reassurance.

Other key findings from the report include:

  • Brands need to become less reliant on third-party data. Significantly, 82% of UK companies have complete or substantial dependence on third-party data and would therefore be negatively impacted by losing access to it. With brands facing a cookieless future, first-party data will become more important to help them to understand and accommodate their customers with engagement strategies that meet expectations and needs.
  • Businesses already recognise the importance of first party data. In fact, 96% of UK companies agreed that first party customer data insights lead to a better customer experience, with nearly half (47%) strongly agreeing.
  • Companies also understand the potential value of compliantly using customer data well. Data shows that nearly all UK businesses (97%) agree that fully owning and using customer data will be their biggest growth lever over the next three years.

You can read the full report here.

Personalisation should be harnessed for better customer communication in 2022

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Paul Adams, Senior Director at cloud communications platform Twilio, has shared his 2022 predictions, drawing on observations in consumer behaviour and customer engagement over the pandemic…

  1. The increased use of first-party data to understand customers from small businesses

“Historically, Netflix and Amazon have dominated the practice of personalisation by making use of first party data, but this will be increasingly used by a wider array of businesses too. The emergence of customer data platforms has made it easier for businesses to harness this data, enabling them to replicate these same levels of personalisation for themselves. Customers now expect this personalised experience, and as more companies begin to rethink their approach to customer experience and update their communication methods, we’ll see a levelling out across businesses of all sizes.

All businesses are going to need to understand all their customer touch points, journeys and profile to the same extent in the long run. Otherwise, consumers’ relationships with your business will be generic, not personalised, and ultimately the consumer will gravitate towards the competition.  So regardless of whether you’re a broadband provider, a grocery retailer, or a holiday booking company, you’ve got to prove that the way you’re engaging with customers and the experience you’re delivering is the best.”

2. The mass digital transformation of small businesses in the B2C market 

“Digital transformation was at the forefront of business conversations before the pandemic, but the sudden need to convert businesses to a digital model overnight significantly sped up the process — by as much as 6 years for many. Businesses are now coming to the end of their natural tech refresh cycles and are accepting that digital transformation is imperative for survival in the market. While large businesses are more likely to have made this jump already, smaller organisations, which have tighter resources and more restrictive budgets by nature, have been slower to make the transition. Many small businesses simply didn’t have the resources to completely remodel during the pandemic, so instead focused on making smaller adjustments for survival. Now, these SMBs, which account  for around 99.2% of businesses in the UK, will be the ones leading this technology innovation and investing in digital transformation for the longer-term. As a result, the level of digital innovation we see from SMBs will be on a level akin to that seen from entrepreneurs in the 1980s.

“Beyond that you’re going to see a lot of industries adopting technology to support better customer engagement. We’re already seeing this in the UK’s mature market, with industries like healthcare, utilities, even buying and selling cars, increasingly moving to a more digital model. Ultimately, their product hasn’t changed but the way they interact with consumers has evolved with apps, chat bots, SMS and WhatsApp for reminders, conversations and alerts. Big brands like Uber and AirBnB have mastered this technique, and innovative start-ups are integrating these lessons into their business models. However, the SMBs that got through the pandemic with limited and underdeveloped digital migrations will now be adjusting their models and their communication methods to meet this expectation.  We’re going to see some very fast-growing companies in this space, as a pressure to differentiate mounts and the ones who engage well, with a great digital service, will be the one to own the transaction.

3. Hybrid lifestyles will be consolidated in the next year, and we expect to see an increased reliance on digital communications for older demographics remote over 30s. 

“The move from pandemic to endemic is an important shift and will have a notable impact on customer engagement. This change will be felt as we experience more new variants and subsequent periods of re-socialisation – and consumer behaviour will be driven by these patterns  as we learn to live with the disease. From this we’ll see three main camps emerge: those who want to return to how things were, those who embrace a hybrid lifestyle and others who adopt a purely remote way of living.”

“Age is a large determining factor driving this changing consumer behaviour. In many cases, it’s younger people who want to return to cities for that socialisation they’ve missed out on this past year, whilst slightly older groups are feeling the benefits of hybrid or remote working more as they have more flexibility to manoeuvre their working lives around families and other commitments. These two groups will be further consolidated in this next phase of the pandemic. Hybrid lifestyles will be solidified with new, flexible commuting patterns while remote lifestyles will become more normalised as families move out of cities and become full-time work-from-home employees.

Younger demographics have historically driven digital adoption. If you look at social media, for example, it’s the 18-35 year olds that make up 80% of users in the UK.  Yet while this age group will continue to lead the charge in embracing newer inventions, we’ll see older demographics start to adapt more to the everyday use of technology to support increasingly hybrid lifestyles. From here, we’ll see greater integration of technologies like digital communications tools to facilitate these lifestyles, so people can work more flexibly and efficiently in the way they choose. Overall, this will increase the prevalence of technology in all of our communities.

4. Business tech innovation decisions will be made based on making businesses ‘future-proof’ rather than just price. 

“The pandemic has highlighted two things for businesses when it comes to technology. First is the importance of having multiple communication channels to alleviate the risk of disruption for customers, and second is the need to invest in technology that will safe-guard businesses for the future. No one could have predicted the pandemic and its effects, but for businesses, it quickly became apparent that those who were forward leaning with their technology footprint were able to make the necessary adjustments to survive. Those who weren’t struggled, and many sadly didn’t make it.  I think this idea of making businesses ‘future proof’ has really taken root and will influence our investment decisions and priorities moving forward. Thinking about long-term solutions that can weather storms will become the way we decide on investment, more so than just considering price. This is also relevant when thinking about sustainability and climate change.

“Something else to consider here is the impact of the “Great Resignation” when it comes to future-proofing businesses. The relationship between organisations and their staff has changed for the long term, and employers are now having to ask themselves how they attract and maintain essential workforce when one in four employees are re-evaluating their careers. Investing in technologies that enable flexibility and open communication with employees and customers is no longer just an IT project — it’s about making fundamental changes to the business model to ensure survival and growth. Those who deploy the tools of digital transformation will be in a far greater position for the next uncertain wave arrives. This is what we mean when we say ‘future-proofing’.”

CASE STUDY: Jabra Engage 50 and Twilio Flex take customer service at Moneypenny to the next level

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In the latest instalment of our Case Studies series, we look at some of the massive benefits that the Jabra Engage 50 and Twilio Flex has provided Moneypenny, a customer service business that handles 15m calls and chats annually on behalf of clients…

Moneypenny wanted to move from desk phones to softphones using Twilio Flex, an open, cloud-based contact center platform. This would enable integration with other intelligent solutions and be easier and faster to scale.

Alyce Green, Product Owner at Moneypenny, explained: “We strive to deliver the best customer experience, through crystal clear voice conversations at every interaction, so choosing the best headset was vital.”

Jabra Engage 50 became top in testing

Moneypenny tested a range of different headsets to see which solution performed best for enhancing call quality and avoiding interruptions from colleagues, while ensuring seamless integration with Twilio Flex.

Oliver Kelly, Head of Technical Architecture, said: “We chose the
Jabra Engage 50 because of the superior sound and easy integration with Twilio Flex. This headset was also preferred by our receptionists because not only was the sound clearer, but it is also very comfortable, lightweight, and easy to adjust – which is important when you need to wear it for many hours every day.”

The Jabra Engage 50 seamlessly integrates with Twilio Flex

Kelly continued, “The free, open Jabra Software Developer Kit (SDK) works across operating systems, enabling Moneypenny to seamlessly integrate Jabra Engage 50 into our platform, with great support from Jabra. Our receptionists now work on a fully integrated platform powered by superior sound, which improves the experience for both customers and receptionists.”

Customized status lights reduce interruptions

The colored status lights on the Jabra Engage 50 give an overview of the status of the teams for reporting purposes. The status lights are visible on the headset earcup and also display within the Twilio Flex system, and enable the receptionists to easily change their status.

Using the open Jabra SDK, Moneypenny were able to customize the status light colors to meet their business needs.

Sidetone feature reduces noise

The Jabra Engage 50 is being rolled out across the contact center. The teams who are already using the new headset have noticed that their areas of the contact center are noticeably quieter, as the sidetone feature enables the receptionists to clearly hear their own voices, so there is no need to talk more loudly during customer calls. The superior noise cancelling microphone also ensures that customers hear only the receptionist’s voice, loud and clear, with zero background noise.

Enhancing the customer experience

Emily Griffiths, Team Leader, commented: “Our receptionists really enjoy using the new Jabra Engage 50 headsets, and they’re helping to enhance the experience for our clients.”

Future plans

Moneypenny are continuing the roll out of Jabra Engage 50 and Twilio Flex across their UK & US teams. Next steps are to work with Jabra to evaluate some of the Jabra Engage 50 software capabilities, such as background noise measurement and simple speech analytics, to assess how this data could be used to further enhance customer satisfaction.

To download a full version of this Case Study, click below.