As we’ve been reporting for a while now, brands and businesses are not delivering the seamless customer experience their customers want and need—and for inexplicable reasons, the problem only seems to be exacerbating.
According to a new customer experience survey from CX consultancy Serenova, 77 percent of respondents reported having had a bad customer experience within the last year when interacting with a brand. And, alarmingly for these brands, two-thirds of respondents would not purchase from a brand again if they had a bad experience with them.
The firm’s State of the Brand Experience Survey was designed to measure consumer attitudes towards their customer experiences with brands across the U.S. and UK. With the majority of respondents (80 percent) stating that they do not always have a seamless experience with a brand across channels, the survey showcases the complex challenges that contact centers face in satisfying today’s evolving consumer demands.
Three in four respondents say that a knowledgeable staff and quick resolution of issues indicate a good customer experience
However, about two-fifths (39 percent) of survey respondents have encountered varying speed of service from an organization depending on the channel they used to interact—a clear indication that agents do not have the data or tools they need to consistently deliver exceptional customer service, regardless of channel.
“The survey results are an eye-opener for how organizations are still not getting customer experience right—even though it is a critical competitive differentiator across industries,” said Michelle Burrows, CMO of Serenova, in a news release. “Ninety-six percent of our survey respondents stated that they would take some type of action if they’ve had a bad customer experience. This can mean not purchasing again from a particular brand or sharing their experience with friends and family and on social media.”
“Getting customer experience right is more important than ever, particularly because sharing bad customer experiences has never been easier for consumers,” Burrows added. “It is critical for organizations to provide their contact centers the right tools to solve customer issues quickly and smartly. Front line contact center personnel must have the content and context of past interactions be able to effectively interact with a customer, regardless of the channel they use.”
The survey focused on specific areas to help companies gain a better picture of the progress they are making on customer experience. Additional key findings include:
- The majority of consumers use digital channels to interact with brands: 90 percent through a seller’s website, 90 percent through a digital marketplace (e.g. Amazon), and 55 percent via a mobile application
- 73 percent of respondents say that it is crucial or very important that brands can deliver seamless experiences across their various channels
- The majority of respondents associate unhelpful or rude staff (79 percent), a lack of staff knowledge about products/services (64 percent), and/or spending too long on hold/waiting when trying to lodge a complaint (59 percent) with bad customer service
Download the full report here.
Serenova commissioned Vanson Bourne, an independent technology market research specialist, to interview consumers in the United States (2,000) and United Kingdom (1,000).
