Over half of businesses in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) believe they offer a “good” Total Experience, according to the latest online market research survey conducted by Avaya and IDG Communications.
The global study surveyed business and technology leaders from a range of industries across the globe, including 80 from the MENA region. It explored the journey of enterprises as they evolve customer and employee experience from individual channels or applications towards a more interconnected experience.
Described by Gartner as one of the top strategic technology trends for 2022, Total Experience pertains to the interconnection between customer, employee, user and multi-experience.
According to Avaya, while companies often develop the right strategies, the best customer outcomes occur where tools and strategy intersect and focus on this interconnection to deliver a superior Total Experience.
The study revealed that despite rating themselves ‘good’ when offering a Total Experience, many MENA firms are struggling to deliver on the individual facets that enable them to become truly customer-centric.
Meanwhile, exactly half believe that they deliver a good ‘employee experience’, and just 33 percent say they offer a good ‘multi-experience.’ Just over half of MENA companies (54 percent) agree that they deliver a good ‘user experience’, but only 43 percent say they offer a good ‘customer experience’.
Nidal Abou-Ltaif, President, Avaya International highlighted that regional businesses rightly place a high premium on customer experience, so it comes as no surprise that the majority are expanding their strategies to uplift the experiences that they deliver to their customers.
“To be truly customer-centric, organisations need a cohesive CX strategy that gives employees the tools to wow every customer on any device. The good news is that MENA firms realise this, and are already working towards it – 74 percent say they have a cohesive customer interaction strategy,” he said.
The report also found that a vast majority of MENA firms (93 percent) say that customer experience is an intrinsic part of their brand value.
However, those who scored higher in Total Experience empower employees with newer tools and platforms only used by some MENA firms – messenger platforms (44 percent), video chat (33 percent), chatbots (43 percent), and AI-based virtual assistants (31 percent). The organisations that support these newer tools have found that they simplify support, transform customer experiences, and benefit from more complete analytic tools.
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“A monolithic, one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t meet the wide range of needs that businesses have as they look to compete in the experience economy,” said Abou-Ltaif.
“When companies combine customer, employee, user and multi-experience thinking, they elevate everything these approaches can achieve on their own. This enables them to deliver exactly what’s needed at every interaction. Avaya OneCloud is a Total Experience platform that lets you compose the experiences that each moment demands—for both customers and employees.”
