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Trend
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Security is no longer an add-on but is seamlessly incorporated throughout the customer journey
Every year, consumers lose billions of dollars due to fraud. Whether it’s breached accounts, stolen identities, or scams, most consumers have been victimized at least once in their life. It’s an unfortunate and maddening reality—likely to become even worse with deep fakes—and as a result, consumers have rightly become suspicious of the businesses that are charged with protecting their data.
While fraud will always be an issue, companies now understand that security measures can’t be ad hoc afterthoughts. All it takes is one breach of security, and your company’s reputation—and client base— will take a serious hit. However, by integrating stronger security measures into the customer experience, businesses are beginning to tighten their defenses without compromising the fluidity customers demand.
74% of CX leaders say they have detailed strategic plans to counteract digital deception and fraud in their CX operations
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Trend 7
![](./assets/images/pill_headers-3.0f56d6e80c75.png)
Security is no longer an add-on but is seamlessly incorporated throughout the customer journey
Every year, consumers lose billions of dollars due to fraud. Whether it’s breached accounts, stolen identities, or scams, most consumers have been victimized at least once in their life. It’s an unfortunate and maddening reality—likely to become even worse with deep fakes—and as a result, consumers have rightly become suspicious of the businesses that are charged with protecting their data.
While fraud will always be an issue, companies now understand that security measures can’t be ad hoc afterthoughts. All it takes is one breach of security, and your company’s reputation—and client base— will take a serious hit. However, by integrating stronger security measures into the customer experience, businesses are beginning to tighten their defenses without compromising the fluidity customers demand.
74% of CX leaders say they have detailed strategic plans to counteract digital deception and fraud in their CX operations
Those efforts have yet to resonate with consumers, though. While 83 percent of CX leaders think their customers trust their data security efforts, six in ten consumers believe companies are falling short. That gap in trust is problematic on its own, but as 73 percent of CX leaders note, criminals keep getting better at what they do, making it harder to safeguard customer data.
These challenges give CX leaders little choice but to revamp and strengthen their CX security strategies, with the understanding that those efforts must be seamlessly integrated into the customer journey without compromising the effortless experiences consumers take for granted. While that’s certainly a vexing challenge, it’s one that must be solved given that 70 percent of consumers won’t purchase a product or service from a company they view as having lackluster security measures.
Thankfully, CX leaders have options for seamlessly integrating security measures into customer experiences, most of which aren’t new: multi-factor authentication, encryption of service interactions, and being transparent with customers about security and data privacy practices. (In the near future, biometric verification will likely be in use for highly regulated and high-risk categories.) And now companies can leverage AI for proactive fraud detection, as well.
78% of CX leaders agree that ignoring encryption in customer service exchanges leaves customer data vulnerable
But let’s focus on transparency for a moment. It’s a key element in building trust with customers, and as 80 percent of CX leaders state, “If our customers don’t understand how we use their data, they may feel violated and opt for brands they deem more transparent.”
The first step to achieving that much-needed transparency is to be clear with customers about how you handle and protect their data.
56% of CX leaders admit their organization experienced a data breach or a cyber attack targeting customer data in the past year; here’s how that figure breaks down by company size.
<99
100–249
250–999
1,000-4,999
5,000+
“Adopt a policy of transparency regarding how personal information is to be used in relationships to conduct business as well as how it is protected from those who would use it differently. Be able to verify a customer identity without having to follow verbal verification procedures.”
Steve Lacoss, Supervisor of Production
![](./assets/images/dorm-room-logo.4f8f3499e14d.png)
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Beyond that, your company must make it easy for customers to opt out of data collection—it can’t simply be, “Your data is ours, trust us.” And because criminals continually find new ways to compromise networks—often by capitalizing on human error— every business needs to implement the latest security measures.
Staying vigilant about security takes resources and commitment, and for some CX leaders, it might not be second nature quite yet. But failing to weave strong security measures throughout the customer experience is a recipe for disaster. However, with some forethought and dedication, you can implement security measures in ways that boost the quality of the experience and build trust.
“Adopt a policy of transparency regarding how personal information is to be used in relationships to conduct business as well as how it is protected from those who would use it differently. Be able to verify a customer identity without having to follow verbal verification procedures.”
Steve Lacoss, Supervisor of Production
![](./assets/images/dorm-room-logo.4f8f3499e14d.png)
![](./assets/images/zendesk-spots-01.91fe1a36d788.png)
Beyond that, your company must make it easy for customers to opt out of data collection—it can’t simply be, “Your data is ours, trust us.” And because criminals continually find new ways to compromise networks—often by capitalizing on human error— every business needs to implement the latest security measures.
Staying vigilant about security takes resources and commitment, and for some CX leaders, it might not be second nature quite yet. But failing to weave strong security measures throughout the customer experience is a recipe for disaster. However, with some forethought and dedication, you can implement security measures in ways that boost the quality of the experience and build trust.