Improving CX: Sectors That Could Better Leverage Tech
Across industries, there has been a lot of buzz about the importance of high-quality, personalized customer experiences, as well as an increased awareness of the role technology—particularly artificial intelligence—can play in providing such experiences. In a summary of its “2024 Consumer Experience Trends Report,” Qualtrics noted that while consumers still favor a human touch, they’re “2.7 times more likely to return if they had great digital support” during a transaction.
Industries that lag behind in leveraging technology to boost CX take the risk of not only frustrating the consumers they serve, but also creating worse outcomes for them. Below, members of Forbes Technology Council discuss some of the sectors that could be doing a better job at leveraging technology to provide high-quality, responsive service, as well as what they can do to catch up.
1. Government
The public sector still lags in leveraging technology to improve the customer experience. This results in lower efficiency, taxpayer frustration and missed opportunities for innovation. In the U.S., innovative leaders at all levels of government—such as San Diego County, New York City and the state of Virginia—are setting new standards by digitizing processes, and others should learn from their approaches. - Alex Saric, Ivalua
2. Retail
The retail industry often lags in adopting AI-driven customer service tools. While e-commerce businesses usually have AI chatbots, most brick-and-mortar stores miss out. Businesses could introduce in-store AI assistants or personalized shopping experiences that connect physical and digital spaces, enhancing convenience and customer satisfaction. - Max Votek, Customertimes
3. Healthcare Delivery
Technology can improve patient experiences in healthcare, and tools like telemedicine services and patient portals already improve patient-provider interactions and access. But data sharing and interoperability remain serious issues. What patients really need is for healthcare organizations to seamlessly share clean, normalized data, which will lead to better care decisions and outcomes for every patient. - David Snow, Jr., Cedar Gate Technologies
4. Business Software Systems
In a digital world, a good customer experience hinges on IT systems’ connectivity. Poor integration between customer relationship management, enterprise resource planning and service tools causes delays and errors, leading to a fragmented experience. Many businesses face challenges with system integration, which affects their ability to deliver seamless, personalized experiences. Improving these connections is a key opportunity. - Sanjeev Munjal, DAX Software Solutions|Microsoft Partner
5. Healthcare Administration
Healthcare lags in providing a better customer experience due to fragmented, outdated systems and risk-averse cultures. Patients often face long wait times, repetitive paperwork and poor communication. Expecting already overworked healthcare professionals to make up for this is unfair. This environment is ripe for technological disruption, beginning with smart automation to streamline administrative tasks. - Aditya Maru, Blacksmith Software Inc.
6. Utilities
Automation is needed in the utility industry, especially in light of recent stories about customer backlash due to inaccurate bills. Building automation fabrics across applications and processes would allow utility companies to improve response times and reduce the risk of inaccuracies in invoices, billing and payments. Automation fabrics would alleviate the industry’s pain points by improving efficiency and accuracy and would provide cost and time savings and better customer experiences. - Charles Crouchman, Redwood Software
7. Legal Services
The majority of U.S. legal firms are considered “small.” Being risk-averse, the industry could miss out on the chance to elevate services with AI. Lawyers face heavy workloads, and AI can boost productivity in daily tasks, freeing time for meaningful client connections. Legal professionals’ expertise will always remain the core value they provide. - Hunter Steele, Smokeball
8. Education
Many K-12 schools lag behind in personalizing learning experiences. Technology-based improvements to the student experience could include AI-driven adaptive learning platforms, gamification of core subjects, the use of virtual reality for immersive history or science lessons, real-time progress tracking for students and parents, collaborative online project spaces, and automated grading systems for faster feedback. - Paresh Goel, DB Corp Ltd.
9. Public Health
Public health services are definitely lagging behind in the use of technology and digitization. Governments and businesses in the public health sector need to build broad-spectrum tools for data collection, rapid disease surveillance, the conversion of qualitative research into insights, and the publication of datasets. - Syam Adusumilli, GroundGame Health
10. Manufacturing
Within the manufacturing industry, there is a sizable gap in technology maturity and adoption. Many manufacturers still collect most of their data using nondigital processes, which is a missed opportunity to gain valuable insights and improve efficiency. This manual approach curbs facilities’ potential to optimize order fulfillment, traceability, sustainability and more—all of which impacts CX. - Bill Rokos, Parsec Automation
11. B2C Services
Most B2C industries—like retail, travel and hospitality—can’t deliver great CX because the tools available don’t meet their needs. To address issues like slow searches, payment delays and failed checkouts, businesses should look for tools that can directly monitor and provide alerts on these experience issues in real time. Aligning technical performance with user engagement creates long-term retention. - Aditya Ganjam, Conviva
12. Financial Services
Midsize banks and other financial institutions are utilizing technology, especially AI, but they could do a lot more. Holistic, real-time voice of the customer (a.k.a. VoC) insights; analysis of app usage data; and understanding of current and future customer life events are all possible now. Configurable solutions built on platforms enable business intelligence analysts to do more with AI and data and are powerful tools. - Zehra Cataltepe, TAZI AI
13. Restaurants
Despite the tech boom, many smaller restaurants still cling to old-school methods, missing out on technology that could truly elevate the customer experience. By embracing mobile ordering, personalized loyalty programs and AI-driven insights that anticipate customers’ desires, they could revolutionize dining, turning casual patrons into loyal fans and standing out in a crowded market. - Savneet Singh, PAR
14. Logistics And Supply Chains
Logistics and supply chain companies have a huge opportunity to improve visibility for customers with technology. Systems for data collection and quality assurance can go a long way toward enabling customers to see where their goods are en route to their destination, and predictive analytics can allow customers to plan for contingencies when things change instead of being left in the dark. - Jeff Mahler, Ambi Robotics
15. Construction
The construction industry lags in adopting technology to improve the customer experience. Construction companies could use augmented and/or virtual reality for project visualization, provide AI-driven project updates, and leverage mobile apps for real-time communication. These tools would enhance transparency, reduce misunderstandings and improve client satisfaction by making complex processes more accessible and efficient. - Praveen Andapalli, Vitel Global Communications, LLC
16. Insurance
The insurance industry could definitely be improved through the use of intelligent automation. By leveraging AI models and robotic process automation for tasks like claim processing and underwriting, an insurance company could significantly reduce processing times and improve accuracy. Further, introducing chatbots and virtual agents enhances customer engagement through more personalized interactions. - Swaroop Raj Gunisity
