(Why) Understanding Customer Sentiment is Key to Creating Better CX

Modern consumer expectations have changed drastically over the past three years. Today’s customers expect a seamless, high-value experience, and the struggle for businesses is how to match these expectations in a cost-effective manner.

The GBS and Shared Services State of Industry Survey 2022 reports that customer experience is viewed as the most popular way to demonstrate customer centricity. Similarly, a 2020 report from McKinsey explains how much delivering a strong customer experience (CX) mattered during a time of crisis such as the pandemic, where retaining customers became pivotal to businesses ability to navigate difficult times.

“The recent shifts in consumer behaviors and expectations brought about by COVID-19 are forcing companies to change how they connect with and serve customers,” the McKinsey report stated. “History clearly shows the value of investing in customer experience during a downturn. In the last economic recession, companies that prioritized customer experience realized three times the shareholder returns compared to the companies that did not.”

Now, as we enter another time of economic instability, organizations are yet again faced with the need to deliver a customer experience that is effortless.

SSON Research & Analytics data suggests that shared services organizations (SSOs) and Global Business Services (GBS) are aware they need to account for customer experience in their decision-making but are not viewing it as enough of a priority. 66% of organizations said enhancing CX is critical “to a great extent” for their organization. However, according to the “State of Shared Services & Outsourcing Industry: Global Market Report 2023” only 29% of organizations see CX as their top priority.

These statistics show that CX is being viewed as a nice to have rather than a need to have. This could be, in part, due to the technological limitations that exist in many organizations. Businesses that have outdated or inefficient systems may face difficulties in providing seamless, user-friendly experiences across multiple touchpoints, such as websites, mobile apps, or customer service platforms. Additionally, with outdated systems businesses may struggle to collect sufficient data that identifies the needs of their client base.

With the rise of AI, businesses have a tremendous opportunity to create a bespoke customer experience, but what they need is a solution that is scalable and easy to train employees on. With that in mind, sentiment analysis has emerged as an AI-based capability that can deliver customer insights that organizations can leverage to create a high-value CX.

AI sentiment analysis measures customer feedback in real-time on every interaction. This analysis helps businesses identify customer satisfaction issues and drive change in the CX. The goal of this report is to explain how sentiment analysis works, how it can help businesses overcome their current challenges and take advantage of the opportunities it creates in CX.