Happy Friday! We’re bringing you the latest roundup of industry news. This week, we’re looking at Forsta’s predictive analytics, the eighth annual State of Marketing report, and a mass of new business updates caused by the cost-of-living crisis. This includes comments about Amazon’s Q3 results, what adverts Brits want to see this Christmas, and more.
Key news
- Elon Musk reportedly plans to lay off around 3,700 of Twitter’s 7,500 workers as soon as possible. Remaining staff will be expected to return to in-office work starting Monday as Musk also plans to scrap Twitter’s remote work policy which allowed employees to work from anywhere. According to Bloomberg, the exact extent and terms of the layoffs are still not final but one of the plans involves offering 60 days worth of severance pay to the laid off workers.
- Amazon announced their Q3 financial results – stock has sank by 13%. Shares lost a fifth of their value in extended trading after the company posted mixed financial results. Total revenue and revenue for Amazon Web Services (AWS) came in below predictions, and Amazon anticipated lackluster holiday sales during the fourth quarter as consumers rein in their spending in response to the precarious economic environment.
- Honeywell announced the release of Honeywell Smart Pay. It enables on-the-spot payments in retail, parcel delivery, public transportation services and other businesses. This will expand their payment capacity, increase top-line revenue, more effectively serve customers and help minimise operating costs.
- Research from the Institute of Customer Service has found abuse of customer service staff has hit record levels amid frustrations over the cost-of-living crisis. 45% of frontline service staff have experienced hostility from customers in the past six months. This is a rise of 10% points since February.
- A new study by Green Smartphones in collaboration with OnePoll reveals the true scale of nuisance phone calls in the UK. Nationally, Brits will receive 4.03 billion nuisance calls this year. More than half of consumers receive nuisance calls every single week. The average consumer receives 6.04 nuisance calls every month.
- Emplifi announced the acquisition of Pixlee TurnTo. They are a US-based industry-leading provider of user-generated content (UGC), ratings and reviews, and influencer marketing solutions. Pixlee TurnTo’s innovative, customer-powered solutions give brands the tools they need to market to sell to, and care for consumers authentically, cost-effectively and at scale. Emplifi will incorporate Pixlee TurnTo’s capabilities across its social marketing, live commerce, and customer care workflows as part of its unified CX Cloud platform.
Forsta unveils new CX predictive analytics capabilities
Forsta will expand its capabilities to include predictive net promoter scores (pNPS). This is created in cooperation with the CX data specialists at GemSeek.
Through this, Forsta clients will now have access to cutting-edge analytics-powered predictions of “silent customers”. CX measurement traditionally relies on direct feedback responses from a portion of the customer base. “Silent customers,” who don’t respond to surveys or don’t submit feedback, can account for as much as 80% to 95% of a company’s entire customer base, according to different estimations.
“To understand the full human experiences of their customers, companies need to look beyond customers’ direct interactions and verbatim feedback. These capabilities will enable our clients to cater to their customer needs in a proactive and personalized fashion and optimize their CX approach for better business outcomes.”
– Giles Whiting, Chief Operating Officer and Managing Director at Forsta
Predictive NPS uses existing operational, customer and financial data as a source for an advanced machine learning model that assigns satisfaction scores to customers who don’t respond to surveys or give direct feedback about their experience. pNPS runs on a library of advanced data science models that assesses which of these additional data points have the highest potential to predict satisfaction.
The model combines behavioral data (CRM and demographics, usage, and more) and customer satisfaction data (survey responses) from across a customer base and employs advanced data science methodologies to identify which factors in customer behavior have the highest impact on customer experience.
For more information about silent customers, check out our latest article by Nav Thethi.
87% of marketers believe their work provides greater value than it did a year ago
Salesforce has released its eighth annual State of Marketing report, examining how marketers navigate evolving customer needs, economic uncertainty, the changing privacy landscape, and the new world of work.
87% of marketers say their work provides greater value now than it did a year ago. This is a 10% point leap from last year. One in three marketers are feeling the squeeze of tightening budgets. This is while consumer expectations continue to soar. 71% of marketers say meeting customer expectations is more difficult than just a year ago.
In the face of heightened demands and limited resources, marketers are looking closely at which capabilities they need. They’re also evaluating how they can extract value from their existing investments first.
Over half (56%) of customers now expect offers in all channels to always be personalised. In turn, brands are investing in a combination of channels and technologies to tailor outreach.
While email remains a dominant channel (80% of all outbound marketing messages) marketers are branching out to newer watering holes. Take TV and over the top (OTT) for example. As streaming services continue to dominate the media landscape and beef up targeted ad offerings, marketers are following suit. Channels like TV/OTT, digital content, and video experienced the biggest growth in marketing adoption.
Cost-of-living crisis business and customer updates
Here’s the latest updates of the cost-of-living crisis on businesses and customers, how they are being impacted and predictions of the impact.
Comment: 2023 CX predictions
“As the cost-of-living-crisis continues to impact customer demand, contact centre leaders will increasingly adopt this model to handle peaks and troughs more effectively to improve customer experience and to allow their centres to operate more cost-efficiently.“
– Ben Booth, CEO of MaxContact
The industry charity is offering UK workers grants of up to £1,000
Advertising industry charity Nabs has launched a grant to help those working in the advertising sector get through the cost of living crisis in the UK. In response, Nabs is offering a one-off grant of £1,000 to industry professionals facing financial troubles who have less than £5,000 in savings. The grant will be available for applications over the next four months to help cover high energy costs over winter.
The move marks the first time the charity has offered such a grant. The charity also provides an advice line for those worried about meeting costs this winter. Earlier this year, Nabs revealed that calls to its support lines relating to mental health issues had risen 15% in 2022. Mental health also accounted for almost 60% of all calls made to its helpline.
60% of customer service managers say this will be the “toughest winter yet” as fears of losing customers grow
60% of customer service managers say it’s going to be “the toughest winter yet”. They’re worried about losing customers in the run up to the holidays. That’s according to new research from gig customer service (GigCX) platform Limitless, which surveyed 250 customer service leaders in the UK and US.
The data also revealed that 44% of customer service managers feel that C-SAT scores have been difficult to maintain in the last 3 months in comparison to before the pandemic. Of this group, 61% say they have fallen as a result of frustration due to recession fears or staff shortages. The drops were revealed to be quite drastic:
- 40% of respondents saying scores have fallen by 5-10% in 2022
- 34% revealing they have fallen 10-15%.
When asked what their biggest fear for 2023 was, respondents indicated that employee mental health suffering was identified as the top concern, at 28%. This was closely followed by staff shortages and falling sales. On a more positive note, 74% say they are looking for alternative models to staff service and keep customers happy.
A third of Brits don’t want to see ‘extravagant’ Christmas adverts this year
80% of Brits say they are concerned about spending this Christmas. 43% of Brits fear they will not enjoy Christmas as much as last year.
56% are not sure if they will be able to buy as many presents this Christmas. 50% say they will spend less on decorations. In addition, one third say they will not spend as much on groceries, alcohol and treats. 31% won’t be able to have a real Christmas tree.
But it is not just the impact on their purchases that Brits are worried about. As a result of the current economic situation, one third will not be able to travel to visit family or will not be able to host their friends and family for a party this year (30% and 39%).
“Brands need to be sensitive to the situation their customers are facing. The typical Christmas adverts showing extravagant celebrations are just not reflective of the celebrations that much of the country will be having this year. Furthermore, they risk adding greater concern and pressure on the majority of Brits that are already worried about Christmas spending.”
– Mark Ursell, CEO of QuMind
Comment: Amazon’s Q3 results not up to usual standards
“It is no surprise to see Amazon lose momentum amidst the cost-of-living crisis, waning consumer confidence and unpredictable economies. Amazon’s eCommerce revenue – which accounts for half of its total revenue – has continued to decline for the last two quarters; this could be why its unprecedented Prime Day bonanza hit digital shelves early to encourage spend over a prolonged period, suppress rising costs and ensure supply chains are prepared for the influx of orders.
– Hugh Fletcher, Global Marketing Director at Wunderman Thompson Commerce
Thanks for tuning into CXM’s weekly roundup of industry news. Check back next Friday for the latest updates of the week!