The Digital Railway

Matt Conner, Chief Growth Officer at Paragon DCX, explains, in the age of The Digital Railway the rail industry can no longer afford to be derailed by poor customer experience (CX) strategies

The public’s slow return to UK railways has forced Train Operating Companies (TOCs) to re-think their approach to enticing commuters and passengers back on to public transport. While rail journeys to and from work were expected to increase during September 2021, train commuting is still just 33 per cent of its pre-Covid rate according to the Rail Delivery Group (RDG), and the leading membership body fear it could take years to return to numbers seen in 2019. This presents a considerable challenge for an industry already facing a financial shortfall that could blow a £4 billion hole in National Rail’s annual revenue from fares.

In an age where technology and connectivity have empowered consumers as never before, the impact of being slow to adopt digital innovations can be catastrophic. Despite this, for a long time the rail industry has been hampered by outdated ‘we’ve always done it this way!’ attitudes at executive level, and a lack of investment in digital technology and the infrastructure to support it.

While there are signs that rail is finally embracing technology in a bid to catch up with other sectors – from Network Rail introducing new touchscreen passenger information displays to Arriva’s new multimodal travel app for EU passengers and much more – it is traditional organisation structures, and their inability to facilitate collaboration still holding TOCs back.

Only by overcoming these barriers can organisations hope to develop mature and cohesive approaches to CX, and in turn deliver a truly connected, seamless digital experience for passengers.

Getting on board with the new customer journey The data and digital revolution now means the customer journey begins long before passengers embark on the train. From travel apps that facilitate quick and easy route planning, to journey tracking in real-time, and social media updates, passengers now have a wealth of data at their fingertips before they even step onto the platform.

As customer journeys become more complex, and unpredictable, train companies must focus on delivering a positive experience from the outset. This means memorable CX during initial journey planning, research and purchase.

This requires not only a comprehensive understanding of each passenger, including their unique behaviours and channel preferences, but also a progressive shift in mindset that enables internal silos to be broken down and individual departmental agendas to be superseded with a customerfirst agenda.

Embracing such a forward-thinking mindset allows ongoing departmental collaboration that leads to the creation of a successful cross-platform CX strategies. Perhaps most crucially, TOCs are able to stay relevant and competitive over time, adapting rapidly to constantly shifting passenger attitudes and behaviours in order to deliver the agility needed to grasp opportunities.

A lack of cohesive collaboration While it has inevitably caused widespread disruption to operations, the last 18 months has also given rail organisations the opportunity to step back, take stock and reframe their approach, and for many it has presented one inevitable conclusion; the lack of maturity and joined up internal approaches to passenger engagement remained a clear impediment to CX.

Indeed, a recent report, Glued Up: The shocking truth about the ‘silo problem’ impacting customer experience and how to fix it, revealed that of those enterprises developing a new CX approach, only 24 per cent of enterprises are doing so with a collaborative, joined up operational model, compared to twelve per cent who are developing their strategy in a silo. While one in five (17 per cent) organisations have a developed approach to CX, but operate in silos.

Given that the strength of CX relies heavily on internal collaboration to drive high-quality experiences for passengers, such figures paint a worrying picture for an industry once seen as the ‘worst for customer service’.

A trusted partner To spread a sense of ownership, and push organisations towards a collaborative mindset, it’s often helpful to have CX guardians or customer committees that bring teams together and oversee the work that goes into creating better customer experiences.

Of course, marketeers can’t do it alone, and in the future, tech and data will remain key to unlocking efficiencies that can be reinvested to drive continuous performance and innovation, and become an enabler of customer-centricity at great scale.

As train companies seek to capitalise on limited opportunities in a much altered market landscape, they are increasingly recognising the value of working with a knowledgeable and experienced customer communications partner.

Such a partnership can help TOCs to master their customer data and maximise its value across multiple touchpoints. Through a complete suite of advice and tools from data management to automating key parts of the customer journey, organisations can free up essential resources to work on higher value, strategic activities.

To find out more, get in touch with Paragon DCX or download the full Glued Up report: https:// insights.paragon-dcx.com/glued-up-report

Matt Conner is Chief Growth Officer at Paragon DCX, a digital acceleration agency, offering rail managers and directors a versatile partner to tackle business, marketing and digital challenges. A business leader and specialist in integrated communications, with more than 20 years of industry experience, he has a proven track record of successfully producing creative work that delivers tangible returns and a strong commercial foundation.