Gartner® states that, “Most organizations lack deep customer empathy.” We think it is a bold statement.
For years, efforts to boost operational efficiency led to customer engagement technologies that enabled automation at scale. Unfortunately, such innovations came at a price. In focusing on efficiency and automation, countless organizations have failed to prioritize their customers.
This lack of customer empathy has resulted in the rise of disjointed customer experiences. Various customer touchpoints end up being managed in separate silos, causing consumers to become frustrated and making it difficult for organizations to build holistic relationships with their customers.
But things can change. Organizations can work to add empathy back into the design of their customers’ experiences. They can leverage innovative technologies in ways that place the customer at the center of all efforts rather than as a factor in an algorithm.
So, what’s the first step in doing so? It starts with rejecting old ways of thinking.
Breaking Out of the Customer Management Industrial Complex
“Unfortunately, many organizations were and still are unable to respond to their customers’ needs,” Gartner says in the report. “That’s because most are trapped in what we call the Customer Management Industrial Complex, a persistent network of platform definitions, technology providers, service providers and customer end-user organizations involved in the management of customer relationships.”
Rather than connected, contextual and effortless customer journeys, the complex causes disjointed and siloed customer experiences. The best way to break out of this is to bring the focus back to the customer. Only by empathizing with their customers can organizations architect seamless CX and build long-term customer relationships.
“The Customer Management Industrial Complex prescribes operational efficiency in functional silos under the guise of customer centricity and prioritizes short-term profits over long-term customer relationships.”
– Gartner
Rather than connected, contextual and effortless customer journeys, the complex causes disjointed and siloed customer experiences. The best way to break out of this is to bring the focus back to the customer. Only by empathizing with their customers can organizations architect seamless CX and build long-term customer relationships.
It’s no coincidence that the Global Empathy Index, which ranks “businesses based on how empathetic they are,” is topped by brands that excel at inspiring loyalty, such as Netflix and Alphabet. As Gartner estimates, “By 2025, organizations in the top 10% of the Global Empathy Index score for their industry will see a 10% increase in customer loyalty.”
To add back empathy, organizations need to place the customer at the center. Even more, they need to leverage technologies to intelligently coordinate experiences that are personalized and contextual. Personalized Video can help organizations achieve all of this and more.
Deliver Customer Empathy With Personalized Video
Combining the advantages of personalization and video, Personalized Video is a great tool for adding back empathy to a customer’s experiences.
In many ways, personalization and empathy go hand-in-hand. Personalization, which involves using customer data and analytics to design experiences that are tailored to unique individuals, is a powerful application of customer empathy. Indeed, data and analytics are one of the main elements needed for intelligent coordination and smarter decision-making.
Personalization is then taken to another level through the incorporation of video. Whether it’s through a friendly voiceover, fun graphics or footage of a real person, video can add back that human element that customers crave.
In other words, Personalized Video is a customer-centric tool that can be used to elevate the customer experience at all touchpoints to become more engaging, contextual and seamless.
Let’s get into some specific examples.
What Personalized Video Looks Like
Because every stage in the customer journey can be improved through greater empathy, the applications of Personalized Video are virtually limitless. It can be used, for instance, to solve customer service situations with a greater sense of compassion and understanding.
The interactive Personalized Video below was designed to reassure and reduce the stress on borrowers facing the end of forbearance. A product of stepping into the shoes of the customer and anticipating their possible anxieties, the video proactively explains to borrowers their next steps in a way that’s friendly, relevant and empathetic.
Notice how Personalized Videos are data-driven and dynamic, capable of changing and accommodating to the circumstances of an individual. Because the content is derived directly from customer and contextual data, the video is seamlessly connected to other parts of the customer journey, lending to a unified customer experience.
Beyond improving service interactions, Personalized Video can also be used to add empathy back into the early stages of the customer journey, such as in sales or onboarding efforts.
This reel by Petplan quite literally made customer acquisition efforts human again by having a real person deliver a personalized message.
Ultimately, empathy comes down to putting people — the customer — first. As Gartner puts it, “Instead of ignoring the human factor, executives need to reintroduce humanity to the customer experience and avoid the trap of the Customer Management Industrial Complex.”
Design Experiences With Customers at the Center
As important as customer empathy is, we know it’s equally critical for organizations to balance it with the financial goals that they have. Taking a customer-centric and empathetic approach to CX can boost engagement, loyalty, and revenue, but that fact means little if it’s not operationally feasible to put into action.
Fortunately, Idomoo’s industry-leading Next Generation Video Platform makes creating Personalized Video easy, allowing organizations across industries to launch large-scale campaigns in just days. We offer full-service where we handle the details for you, as well as a fully open self-serve option that puts the power in your hands.
With Living Video functionalities like contextualization, interactivity and user customization, Personalized Video always keeps the customer at the center. Want to learn more about how Idomoo can help you transform your customers’ experience? Let’s connect.
Gartner, “Rethink Customer Experience for a Disrupted World With the CX CORE Model: A Gartner Trend Insight Report”, Don Scheibenreif and Marcus Blosch, 16 February 2022. GARTNER is a registered trademark and service mark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally and is used herein with permission. All rights reserved.
Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner’s research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.
