For funds in particular, the ability to engage with customers proactively at key moments will be central to development and maintenance of relationships.

Customer experience is no longer just a buzzword or the right noise to make. It’s now clearly driving strategy and transformation of organisations across verticals and across the globe.

According to Dimension Data’s annual Global Contact Centre Benchmarking Report, 83 per cent see customer experience as a competitive differentiator, 78 per cent can see increases in revenue and decreases in cost from improvements in customer experience.

But achieving a differentiated level of customer experience in the age of digital engagement requires organisational focus.

Today, a key focus for organisations and contact centres worldwide is to aim to deliver an omnichannel (connected customer journey) experience, where customers can seamlessly traverse multiple channels within a single customer journey. Looking to the near future, the trends show more personalisation of service and a focus on proactive outreach to engage with customers. For funds in particular, the ability to proactively engage with customers at key moments will be central to development and maintenance of the customer relationship.

A mature customer analytics and insight capability, and an agile and flexible technology platform, will be crucial to an organisation’s ability to support both the connected customer journey and this future personalisation of service.

Finally, with all the current focus around migration to digital and automated self-service, it’s important to remember that a great customer experience needs a human touch and a clarity of vision around customer needs and expectations. This requires a human-centred customer experience strategy, an improvement in the way organisations measure and manage digital channels, and clear ownership and governance within the organisation.

Jude Carter is a principal consultant at Dimension Data.

To read all our coverage from Day Two of CMSF 2017, click here.