‘Siri, Boost My Sales’ … Voice-Activated Tech to ‘Revolutionize’ Orgs

Thanks to popular virtual assistants like Apple’s Siri and Amazon’s Alexa, voice-activated technology has emerged as mainstream in our homes. But top enterprise decision-makers are now looking closely at these solutions—as well as moving forward with significant adoption plans—to improve the customer experience and increase sales, according to a recent survey from Globant. The resulting “2018 Voice-Activated Technology Business Guide” report reveals that organizations expect voice-activated tech to improve customer service responsiveness and connections, in addition to searches. Nearly 680 U.S. senior-level decision-makers took part in the research. The following slide show features highlights from the survey, with charts provided courtesy of Globant.

The findings reveal that 53 percent of respondents use voice-activated tech on the job at least once a week. More than three of 10 use it daily.

In their personal lives, 72 percent of respondents said they use voice-activated tech at least once a week. And 45 percent use it every day.

When asked which voice-activated tech outcomes have the most potential to “revolutionize” how they interact with customers, 34 percent of respondents selected “faster customer service responsiveness.” The ability to connect with people in a more conversational manner ranked second, as selected by 23 percent of respondents.

Another top “revolutionizing” consideration for voice-activated tech outcomes impacting customers is the improvement of searches, as cited by 22 percent of respondents. Organizations are also seeking easier reordering capabilities (as cited by 13 percent of respondents) and a new advertising channel (8 percent).

Three-quarters of respondents said they think of companies with voice interactions as more sophisticated than those without them. Nearly the same proportion consider voice as a tech initiative.

Globant reports that 32 percent of respondents said their company is in the “discovery phase” of acquiring voice-activated tech. Another 33 percent said their organization is considering possible vendors.

The report reveals that 27 percent of respondents said their organization has already selected a voice-activated vendor. About one in 10 have tried a vendor and are now moving on to another.

In terms of design and implementation, 35 percent of respondents said their organization has researched voice-activated tech “a little bit,” but is essentially relying on strategies used for other tech investments. Only 18 percent said they’ve done specific research about voice-activated tech and used this to guide strategies.