Majority of B2B Companies Believe CX Is Important But Fail to See ROI

While the majority of B2B executives believe customer experiences to be very important, less than a quarter (23 percent) see strong returns from their customer experience initiatives, according to a recent Accenture study.

The research found that 86 percent of executives believe customer experience is important to strategic priorities, and 41 percent of those believe it to be “critically important.” Unfortunately, companies are unable to achieve the revenue growth seen with successful customer experience performance because of several reported barriers.

Forty-eight percent of respondents cited directors and managers having too little time to dedicate to customer experience as a significant or extremely significant barrier. The second most common challenge for 46 percent of participants is a lack of formalized, cohesive and comprehensive processes for delivering optimal customer experiences. Lack of collaboration and integration across the organization are also holding 46 percent of companies back.

According to the authors of the research, B2B companies need to “further invest in and develop the strategic and execution capabilities to generate positive business impact,” as they found companies that are delivering excellent customer experiences have refined key strategic and execution capabilities.

These include generating revenue growth instead of reducing costs, picking investments selectively with confidence in ROI, and being a disruptor in the channel experience space.

B2B Marketing Focusing on CX

A July report from Adobe and Econsultancy shows the growing focus on digital has also prompted B2B marketers to focus on customer experience, personalization and big data.

The data shows that B2B marketing initiatives are starting to match up with B2C marketers, now that B2B prospects are expecting consumer-like experiences. The report’s authors wrote that, “B2B marketers will be pressured to pivot their focus to customer experience and personalization in the very near-term.”