The State of CX Vendors

We recently published a report looking at the state of CX management from the practitioner’s stand point. But what about the vendors in the market? To find out, we surveyed 98 CX vendors about their businesses (see graphics below). Here’s some of what we found:

• Prices are on the rise. About one-quarter of CX vendors say that their average selling price is increasing, which is more than three times the number that see prices dropping.
• Field and product marketing are key weaknesses. Only 20% of CX vendors think they are strong at field marketing and 24% feel that way about product marketing. Almost all CX vendors are growing, with 31% expecting to expand by more than 50% this year.
• Sales is key areas of focus. Over half of CX vendors see sales as a key area for improvement, next on the list is corporate marketing at 32%.
• Innovation is the path to success. Seventy-eight percent of CX vendors think that the innovation in their offerings will impact their business over the next two years. At the other end of the spectrum, they aren’t very worried about new entrants or pricing pressure.
• M&A is in the air. More than one-third of the companies that gave us an answer expect to make an acquisition or be acquired over the next 18 months.
• There’s a lot of growth. Nearly all respondents expect to increase their revenues this year and 31% expect to expand by at least 50%.
• Telecom and retail are hot markets. When we asked where they see growth, the two industries with the most momentum are telecom/media services and retail.
• U.S. is largest CX market. Nearly nine out of 10 CX vendors sell in the U.S. and 78% expect their sales to grow this year. Next on the list of growing markets are Asia, Canada, and Western Europe.

The bottom line: Companies are spending money on CX vendors