A new commissioned study from cloud communications platform Infobip has revealed that digital acceleration initiatives undertaken by businesses quickened the pace of adoption among consumers in the Asia Pacific region regarding the integration of self-service and automated support in CX (customer experience).
For instance, customers who prefer automated chatbots when making purchases is now 2% higher at 26% versus the previous figure at 24%.
Across the region, phone and online live chat support prevail as the most preferred touchpoints when it comes to all available support scenarios. In the Philippines, interacting with human agents on the phone holds the top spot as the most preferred touchpoint of customer service (42%), followed by online live chat (33%) and social media (31%).
Having a human touch in hybrid experiences is pivotal in differentiating and improving CX, the study found as it noted a strong correlation exists between the value of human agent interactions in addressing highly emotional or complex cases. When human interaction was selected for general customer service and complaint cases, a boost in CX was reflected in upswings of the CX score (from 3.37 to 3.63 for complaints).
The Philippines (3.9) sits between China (4.0) and Malaysia (3.8) in terms of CX score which is based on three key considerations when measuring CX quality – effectiveness, ease, and emotion.
In the Philippine post-pandemic era, phone support offered by human agents rose to 50% from 39% before the pandemic as the most preferred general customer service and support scenario for consumers. Meanwhile, phone calls slid to 33% from 39% when it comes to preferred customer feedback and complaint channels, but advanced to 46% from 38% for pre-sales support.
After the strategic planning of automation and human support placement, decision-makers will have to create a CX ecosystem that effectively facilitates collaboration and leverages on cloud-based environments to push the boundaries of CX, the report said.
Currently, there are four distinct personas among Filipino consumers that brands must consider in making sure that their CX strategies are tailor-fit for the local market.
These include affluent hybrid shoppers (45%) who use digital and human channels interchangeably, reserved high touch seekers (26%) inclined to human touchpoints, neutrals (17%) who remain hesitant to switch among touchpoints, and younger low-touch digital natives (12%) who opt for digital CX.
The study’s findings highlight that a cookie-cutter approach in delivering superior CX is no longer effective when dealing with specific consumer personas, each with different needs and expectations from the businesses they interact with.
“To cater to the unique demands in customer experience, business leaders need to find the right balance in combining the deployment of both of digital and human touchpoints to improve the customer experience journey. The right technologies are also needed to complement this hybrid strategy to be able to take full advantage of the benefits that excellent CX can bring to the business,” said Charist Montenegro, country manager of Infobip Philippines.
