New Global Research from Verint Shows Brands Leaning into Technology to Deliver Exceptional Customer Experiences While Lowering the Cost to Serve

Rhea-AI Summary

Verint (NASDAQ: VRNT) released its annual global research revealing that one-third of business leaders lack confidence in providing quality customer experiences amid ongoing economic challenges. The study, based on a December 2022 survey of 2,875 leaders across 13 countries, highlights that over 50% foresee labor issues and budget cuts negatively impacting customer engagement efforts this year. However, 67% of respondents expressed high confidence in their organizations' abilities to meet customer demands, noting significant effectiveness in digital engagement and automation strategies. Companies are increasingly investing in digital channels to enhance customer experience.

Positive

• 67% of business leaders are highly confident in providing customer experience.
• Highly confident leaders are 3.2 times more effective in digital customer engagement.
• 85% of confident leaders expanded digital channel usage to improve customer interaction.
• 72% of confident respondents found chatbots effective in customer engagement.

Negative

• One-third of business leaders lack confidence in customer experience proficiency.
• Over 50% of leaders anticipate labor issues and budget cuts will harm engagement efforts.

One-Third of Business Leaders Lack Confidence in Customer Experience Proficiency Amid a Global Recession Threat, Budget Cuts and Labor Issues

MELVILLE, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Amidst the threat of a global recession and budget and talent management challenges, one-third of business leaders lack confidence in their organization’s ability to provide high-quality customer experiences. Additionally, more than 50 percent believe labor issues, budget cuts and/or pressure to reduce costs will have a negative impact on their customer engagement efforts this year.

Verint^® (NASDAQ: VRNT), The Customer Engagement Company^®, released its annual global research today examining the customer engagement challenges organizations face, and the strategies they are using to close the Engagement Capacity Gap^™ (ECG) – the gap between customers’ expectations for service and an organization’s ability to fulfill them. The new study is based on a December 2022 survey of 2,875 business leaders across 13 countries.

While continuous and disruptive change still lingers as the effects of the pandemic continue to fade, this year’s survey found a two-tiered divide, with one group of respondents significantly more confident about their organization’s ability to provide the level of customer experience demanded by modern consumers.

High Confidence Creates Resilience in Challenging Times

The research found a significant divide in confidence with 67 percent of respondents indicating they are “highly confident” about their organization’s ability to provide the level of experience demanded by modern consumers, and the remaining 33 percent indicating they were less confident in this capacity.

Highly confident leaders were 3.2 times more likely to be highly effective at engaging customers across digital channels, 2.9 times more likely to provide effective self-service options, 2.9 times more likely to have been highly effective in implementing or expanding their customer experience automation usage and 2.8 times more likely to be effective in leveraging customer feedback to improve customer experience during 2022.

Moreover, in the challenging business climate, organizations are doubling down on strategies and solutions to address the CX-Cost Equation^™ – the need to deliver exceptional customer experiences while also lowering the cost to serve.

“Many business leaders believe their digital-first engagement, workforce management and quality and performance efforts have given them a sure footing to improve customer engagement and experience delivery. But the threat of a global recession, budget cuts and a challenging labor market are causing significant disruption,” says Verint’s Chief Marketing Officer, Celia Fleischaker.

“Organizations must leverage digital-first engagement and automation to meet customers where they are, allowing engagement at scale through a unified workforce of humans and bots. Streamlining talent management creates a more efficient hiring and onboarding process and sets up employees with the right tools to succeed.”

Digital-First Engagement and Automation are Now the Gold Standard for Improving CX

The survey revealed that investment in solutions across multiple parts of an organization was key to having confidence in effective customer engagement. Organizations continue adoption of digital-first engagement solutions at scale, with a focus on the need to meet customers where they are on their channel of choice. In fact, 85 percent of highly confident leaders began using or expanded use of digital channels for interacting with customers over the last 12 months. Eighty-nine percent also cited their use or more extensive use of those digital engagement channels in improving customer experience has been highly effective.

A key aspect of solving the CX-Cost Equation is being able to scale interactions without drastically increasing budgets or reducing the quality of customer engagements. Forty-five percent of highly confident respondents currently share work between human employees and bots. And 72 percent of highly confident respondents indicated that utilization of chatbots and messaging channels has been extremely effective for them during the past two years. Fifty-six percent of highly confident leaders increased spending on messaging and social channels, while 54 percent increased budgets for chatbots and IVAs to improve efficiency and decisioning in 2022 compared to 2021.

Methods to Safeguard Customer and Employee Experience

Labor challenges facing business leaders have worsened year-over-year, and talent management challenges abound, as respondents cite myriad issues including employee retention, coaching and mentoring, interviewing, skills training and supporting employee wellbeing.

In 2022, business leaders in the highly confident group targeted key areas to increase spending to improve their ability to provide exceptional CX. Quality/performance (57%), messaging and social channels (56%) and chatbots/IVAs (54%) were among the top three solutions where bigger budgets prevailed.

In relation to talent management, more than half of business leaders rated coaching and mentoring, supporting employee well-being and skills training as the top three talent management challenges in 2023.

Register for the webinar, Closing The Engagement Capacity Gap - Find out What’s Working from Organizations Getting It Right, hosted by Maribel Lopez of Lopez Research, at 1 p.m. ET on March 2. Click the link to download the full Engagement Capacity Gap study.

About Verint

Verint^® (Nasdaq: VRNT) helps the world’s most iconic brands build enduring customer relationships by connecting work, data, and experiences across the enterprise. More than 10,000 organizations in 180 countries – including over 85 of the Fortune 100 companies – are using the Verint Customer Engagement Platform to draw on the latest advancements in AI, analytics, and an open cloud architecture to elevate customer experience.

Verint. The Customer Engagement Company^®. Learn more at Verint.com.

This press release contains “forward-looking statements,” including statements regarding expectations, predictions, views, opportunities, plans, strategies, beliefs, and statements of similar effect relating to Verint Systems Inc. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and they are based on management's expectations that involve a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions, any of which could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in or implied by the forward-looking statements. For a detailed discussion of these risk factors, see our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended January 31, 2022, and other filings we make with the SEC. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date of this press release and, except as required by law, Verint assumes no obligation to update or revise them or to provide reasons why actual results may differ.

VERINT, VERINT DA VINCI THE CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT COMPANY, BOUNDLESS CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT, and THE ENGAGEMENT CAPACITY GAP are trademarks of Verint Systems Inc. or its subsidiaries. Verint and other parties may also have trademark rights in other terms used herein.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230301005224/en/

Media Relations

Sue Huss

sue.huss@verint.com

Investor Relations

Matthew Frankel

matthew.frankel@verint.com

 

Source: Verint

FAQ

What did the recent VRNT survey find about business leaders' confidence in customer experience?

The survey revealed that one-third of business leaders lack confidence in their organization's ability to provide quality customer experiences.

How many business leaders believe labor issues will affect customer engagement?

More than 50% of business leaders believe that labor issues, budget cuts, and cost reduction pressures will negatively impact customer engagement efforts.

What percentage of leaders are highly confident in their customer experience capabilities?

67% of business leaders indicated they are highly confident in their organization's ability to provide the level of experience demanded by modern consumers.

How has digital engagement investment changed according to the VRNT survey?

The survey found that 85% of highly confident leaders began using or expanded their use of digital channels for customer interaction in the last year.

What are the main challenges businesses face according to the VRNT press release?

Business leaders are facing challenges in labor management, including employee retention, coaching, and skills training.