Many businesses are retaking ownership of customer data to gain greater visibility and control, which will help them harness the power of data to compete and win on customer experience.

It hasn’t taken long for marketers to go from longing for customer data to being faced with an overwhelming amount of it. But now that they have it—and a confusing array of tools to house it—many marketers face insufficient visibility and control, compromising their ability to meet ever-rising customer expectations. New research shows that best-in-class businesses recognize that they must work toward taking back ownership of their CX data to harness the power of their customer information—in order to compete and win on customer experience.

How are companies managing their customer experience data?

In September 2019 and October 2020, Deloitte commissioned Forrester Consulting to evaluate how companies are managing their customer experience data. The research documented the challenges of complex data systems and diverse data sources and showed ways that companies are bringing data management back in-house, with the goal of improving customer experiences and satisfaction. Key findings included:

  • Complex data structures affect customer experience. Faced with unconnected data from many sources, housed in tools that are often not connected, companies are challenged to understand their customers. Companies on average have 16 different technology applications leveraging customer data, with an average of 25 different data sources used for generating customer insights and engagement.
  • Collecting and connecting data are key challenges. Addressing data management challenges and finding ways to take ownership of customer data are priorities for companies. Only 39 percent of compaines surveyed strongly agree that they know where all of their customer data is stored, and more than 43 percent lack real-time reporting capabilities.
  • In-house data management promises visibility and control. In order to reclaim customer data, the companies surveyed are increasingly asserting more control by bringing data management capabilities in-house. Nearly two in five respondents anticipate using in-house teams most often for customer data management within the next two years.

From customer data to customer experience

While collecting, storing, and deriving smart insights from customer data can be challenging, it’s the key to truly understanding your customers and creating enriching experiences that bring them in—and keep them around.

Dive further into our CX data research with the downloads below, and discover why taking control of customer data is one of the biggest opportunities for marketers today.

Interested? Get in touch

MICHELLE McGUIRE CHRISTIAN
National Market Offering Leader - Experience Management
Deloitte Consulting LLP
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Commissioned studies conducted in October 2020 and September 2019 by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Deloitte Digital. 2020 study—439 customer data management decision-makers at North American enterprises. 2019 study—425 customer data management decision-makers at North American enterprises.