Highlights From The Global State of Customer Experience 2018 Report

The 2018 Global State of Customer Experience by the CX Network has been published. This year’s edition saw nearly 300 responses from the CX community, with each of the participants providing insights into the trends, challenges & investment priorities that are shaping customer experience in 2018.

Top 3 Highlights From The 2018 Global State of Customer Experience Report

Below are 3 key highlights from the report, which would help you keep abreast of happenings in the CX community so you appraise your CX efforts and prioritise your plans for the next 12 months.

#1. Customer Experience Trends

One interesting finding from the 2018 Global State of Customer Experience report is that the top three trends remain unchanged. 

Top Trends For 2018

However, the long-term front-runner customer loyalty and retention slipped down to accommodate for the impact of digital and data & analytics. Emotional engagement also rose through the ranks, with AI and chatbots holding a top spot after being a new entry last year. 

#2. Industry Challenges

Although the report revealed no radical change in the top challenges affecting CX practitioners, instilling a customer first culture remains a big challenge. Ensuring that an organisation lives and breathes a customer first culture ranked high on all lists. 

Top Challenges For 2018

CX practitioners identified competing organizational priorities as a top challenge while solution providers identified linking CX initiatives to ROI as a big challenge besides building a customer first culture. 

#3. Investment Priorities 

This year’s report show there is an alignment between the industry trends and investment priorities for CX practitioners. Data, analytics and digital customer experience rose by 5% to become the top spend priorities for practitioners, this was correctly predicted by the solution providers and industry commentators.

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Top Investment Priorities For 2018

All of the highlighted top priorities are interlinked and contribute to each other. For instance, investing in data and analytics strategies will boost customer journey mapping activities which will, in turn, improve customer satisfaction and lead to more loyalty. 


To keep customers satisfied and loyal, CX professionals have to stay abreast of the customer experience standards set by industry disrupters and technology. Doing so will enable them to make the necessary changes quickly. This report contains powerful insights that can empower you to do so. Download the full report here.

Kelechi Okeke
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