Marketers know customer-service is lacking in APAC: CMO Council

The study, done in partnership with SAP, spoke to 245 senior marketers in 16 Asia-Pacific countries during the third and fourth quarters of 2013. Only 10 per cent of marketers felt there was a strong alignment and synergy among functional heads when it comes to providing a seamless experience across all consumer touch points. Just 11 per cent of marketers in the region are highly satisfied with their ability to listen and respond to the needs of the customer.

Twenty-three per cent of marketers calculate how customer experience directly impacts business performance through lost or gained revenue, retention, defection, detraction or advocacy, the CMO Council noted. What’s more, marketers in the region feel customer experience lacks measurement, accountability and dedicated resources.

“There is no point wasting marketing resources on seducing customers with offers, incentives and captivating branding if there is a big disconnect on the product, business policy or service experience site,” said Donovan Neale-May, executive director of the CMO Council. “You will just see churn, disaffection and bad word-of-mouth, which can be quite damaging in a socially connected region like Asia.”

Brands in the region also feel global brands trump regional or local ones when it comes to customer centricity: 55 per cent said global brands have better customer centricity, while 37 per cent felt regional brands fare better.

Ownership of the customer experience is a contentious issue as it is found to be fragmented and distributed across multiple titles including the CMO, head of service and support, VP or director of customer service, chief operations officer, sales officer, experience officer and so on.

These individuals have the authority and budget to influence and impact customer experience, according to 39 per cent of marketers interviewed.

Few companies (25 per cent) in the region have conducted a customer experience management audit across all touch points and only 36 per cent of marketers report having a formal customer experience strategy or programme in place.