Customer expectations are evolving rapidly. Many surveys and reports have reinforced what most businesses already know: poor service is one of the top causes for customers to call it quits with a company. This makes customer experience (CX) highly crucial for businesses, and it’s not about merely responding to consumer requests or concerns. It’s much more than that.
Considering the landscape we are presently dealing with, CX is more about foreseeing what customers want next and designing state-of-the-art end-to-end product and service experiences — a key aspect of brand loyalty. Foreseeing what customers want requires the adoption of a data-driven approach.
TP conducts an annual analysis of data-driven insights across 19 business verticals. These findings fuel fresh strategies for businesses and drive a meaningful CX transformation. It’s an approach that I will elaborate on at the upcoming Customer 360 Symposium 2025.
Click here to participate in the Customer 360 Symposium 2025.
Understanding today’s CX landscape
Customers interact with brands across social media, mobile apps, websites, search engines, chatbots, and phone lines. Multichannel interactions make things much more convenient for customers but cause problems for companies. Providing consistently positive experiences across every channel and customer touchpoint is very complex. Without a well-coordinated, data-driven strategy, they risk delivering disjointed service.
The data factor
Gathering data isn’t a bottleneck. The influx of customer data is constant and more than ever. The biggest challenge is making sense of the raw information to draw meaningful insights. While market research can inform you of customer experiences and preferences, customer insights help identify deeper motivations and trends.
Overview of TP’s Annual TP Business Insights Data (2024)
Every year, TP aggregates and examines data from 19 sectors, homing in on how five generations of consumers behave, communicate, and evolve.
The report reveals what customers prioritize, how they react to emerging technologies, and where businesses should invest to remain competitive. Simply put, it’s a roadmap for the challenges and possibilities in modern CX, which involves:
• Cross-sector analysis: After analyzing 19 sectors, TP identified universal themes, such as the ongoing need for frictionless digital interactions and sector-specific concerns.
• Generational insights: Generational profiles highlight unique preferences, from Baby Boomers who may prize voice support to Gen Z customers who seek instant support.
• Future-forward strategies: Pinpoint what consumers want and what they could demand next to proactive strategies rather than reactionary ones.
Applying these insights can address the most pressing CX needs. It can help design customer journeys that feel intuitive, cohesive, and tailored to specific consumer segments.
1. Omnichannel experiences: Shoppers want seamless, omnichannel experiences from social media platforms to mobile apps. Data-driven insights help zero in on channels customers prefer and yield the best return on the efforts.
2. Generational differences and preferences: Pertinent insights such as understanding generational preferences help design services ideal for each generation. For instance, Baby Boomers are comfortable with phone support. On the other hand, Millennials and Gen Zs are inclined toward digital wallets. This helps providers to make support channels align with varied expectations.
3. Real-time communication: Predictive analytics and proactive communication can substantially reduce frustration in high-stress situations. For instance, real-time updates via SMS or app notifications about power restoration or water supply issues can enhance trust and minimize call center volume.
4. Customer life cycle management: Product life cycles are short, and customer demands can shift quickly. Regularly updated data, from trending software features to new hardware releases, empowers tech companies to personalize support and anticipate adoption hurdles.
Investing strategically in CX
Without targeted investment, even the best data can go underutilized. TP’s research offers a structured way to prioritize CX spending for maximum return. Here’s how these insights would fare when applied across four key sectors:
1. Retail: Invest in advanced analytics or AI chatbots that handle frequent inquiries (like product availability or order tracking) so live agents can manage complex customer issues.
2. BFSI: Allocate budget to robust security and frictionless digital onboarding experiences, ensuring trust and convenience for a broad customer base.
3. Utilities: Focus on automation and proactive monitoring systems that detect and inform customers about outages or disruptions, reducing inbound query spikes.
4. Technology: Integrate real-time data analysis tools to swiftly detect where service issues lie (e.g., app performance or compatibility problems), ensuring swift, personalized support.
These approaches ensure resources flow to the most impactful areas, driving customer satisfaction and operational efficiency. In an era of heightened consumer expectations, data-driven insights are a precious currency for CX.
TP’s 2024 Business Insights Data, spanning 19 industries and five generations, offers a detailed map for any organization looking to anticipate customer demands. Strategic Investments grounded in research can translate into effortless experiences.
In my keynote at the Customer 360 Symposium 2025, my team and I will showcase these insights so businesses in ANZ and beyond can chart a course toward true CX excellence.
