IDC’s recent report, titled Empathy During the Covid-19 Pandemic: Becoming an Empathetic Enterprise in the Next Normal, details how the most digitally mature organizsations adapted quicker to challenges brought by the pandemic.
The crisis has accelerated the shift of customer experience (CX) from physical to digital-first, exacerbating existing CX challenges and growing the digital divide between leading organizations in CX and others.
To thrive in the Next Normal, organisations should accelerate their digital transformation efforts (DX) and become truly customer-centric.
“During the crisis’ peak, organizations displaying customer empathy have adapted quickly. In the next normal, the most empathetic ones will stand to thrive. Therefore, organizations must remain deeply connected, understand their situations, and continue to act in ways that build trust,” says Lawrence Cheok, senior research manager: digital commerce, marketing and digital transformation at IDC Asia/Pacific.
Amid the pandemic, leading organizations have leveraged technology to stay connected, continue engagements, and adapt experiences to their customers’ needs.
More importantly, these organisations’ responses have changed customer expectations for the next normal. Customers have demonstrated that empathy is what they need and are looking for from organisations – empathy is not an option but a requirement.
Other highlights from the report on what CX impacts IDC expects in the next normal:
- Digital engagement, ecommerce, and e-communities will become mainstream.
- The physical world will be repurposed to augment digital-first journeys.
- Sustained CX initiatives will be grounded in customer empathy.
- Listening to customer sentiments will shape enterprises’ recovery curve.