A new study on CX is shedding more light on the extent to which many firms today are ill-equipped to provide a viable CX solution for their customers, despite an awareness of the problem. While 82% of decision-makers identify CX to be a priority for their companies, the study said, more than 90% acknowledged that their current technology solutions did not possess the key capabilities to support a CX strategy that would drive up business.

The study, titled Boost Customer Experience Success With A Unified Approach, said the key capabilities in an effective CX solution include advanced artificial intelligence (AI) to manage risk and efficiency, better data privacy, and the ability to share insights with different customer-facing departments. The study was conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Sprinklr.

Headquartered in New York City, Sprinklr is an enterprise software as a service (SaaS) company that uses conversational AI technology at the center of its CX-facing functions, an approach that it calls Unified Customer Experience Management (Unified CXM). Its platform, also called Sprinklr, provides multiple services for managing CX in five areas: social media, marketing, advertising, research, and customer care. Sprinklr’s clients include Microsoft, Samsung, and other Fortune 100 companies.

In its global survey of more than 300 decision-makers from around the world, the study also found that almost half of the respondents said their current tools did not provide a single, comprehensive view of their customers. About an equal percentage said they did not have a clear mechanism for understanding raw, unstructured data gathered from digital channels like blogs, forums, ratings, reviews, and social media.

Nearly 90%, however, said that they would implement a unified CXM platform—Sprinklr’s specific area of specialization—if such a platform were made available to them, as the respondents believed it would provide a competitive advantage and uncover untapped business benefits.

“Organizations understand that insight-driven strategies are the key to successful customer experience management. Yet it’s surprising to see how many are challenged with siloed data, inefficient processes, and a disconnected stack of customer experience tools,” said Ragy Thomas, Sprinklr founder and CEO. By unifying their CXM strategy, organizations can make customers happier and ultimately grow their business, Thomas added. Another key finding in the study said companies are struggling to deliver what they deem to be superior CX. More than 70% of the respondents said it was of utmost importance to quickly resolve customer issues across digital channels and to act swiftly on competitive insights. Even so, less than 30% said their organizations could execute such capabilities competently.