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As part of Solutions Review\u2019s\u00a0Contributed Content Series<\/a><\/span><\/span>\u2014a collection of contributed columns written by industry experts in maturing software categories\u2014John Nash, the Chief Marketing and Strategy Officer at Redpoint Global<\/a>, shares some insights on how companies can reduce the “customer experience gap.”<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Brands sometimes lag behind consumers in having their finger on the pulse of consumer trends. When bands like Nirvana popularized the grunge look in the ’90s, retailers suddenly couldn’t stock oversized flannel shirts and ripped jeans fast enough. <\/span>Like many other trends in fashion and elsewhere, brands eventually catch up with consumer expectations. However, the experience that brands deliver, rather than the product itself, follows a similar pattern in trailing consumer expectations.<\/span><\/p>\n Driven by increased channels and devices, expectations for convenience and immediacy, and a general commoditization of price and product, consumers increasingly demand personalized, relevant customer experiences (CX). A sharp increase in digital-first customer journeys has accelerated this personalization trend. Consumers now recognize their value to a brand, and they expect brands to reward that intrinsic value with a deep, personal understanding of them as individual customers. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n A 2021 <\/span>Harris Poll survey<\/span><\/a> commissioned by Redpoint Global found that consumers expect a more personalized customer experience than they believe most brands deliver. They consistently rank the ability of brands to meet their expectations lower than brands rank themselves. Across four dimensions of customer experience (customer understanding, personalization, privacy, and omnichannel consistency), there is a roughly 2X gap between marketers’ and consumers’ assessment of the ability of marketers to deliver an “excellent” experience across each dimension.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n From the customer perspective, the reasons for the CX gap boil down to customer journeys becoming more dynamic and unpredictable. The delineation between in-store and online has blurred<\/a><\/strong>, as consumers regularly start on one channel or device and finish on another, or even use multiple channels simultaneously. Consumers expect the brands they interact with to follow these omnichannel customer journeys precisely.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nDynamic Journeys Widen the Customer Experience Gap<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n
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