For CX teams, falling short of customer expectations can have disastrous consequences impacting loyalty, reputation, satisfaction, and profitability, to name only a few. But unnecessarily over-delivering also misses the mark.
You cannot bridge customer and company expectations without insights from both audiences. With this in mind, SurveyMonkey dug into this topic in our recent report, gathering new data on the divide between consumer needs and customer experience teams’ priorities. What they uncovered is that there are significant gaps between what customers want and what many CX teams aim to deliver.
But it’s never too late to course correct when data insights are lighting the way. Here are some key findings CX teams can use to give customers what they truly want.
Customers want some pretty (dare we say basic?) things.
While CX teams are prioritizing more frequent customer communications (51%), integrating customer feedback into strategy (47%), and personalizing customer touchpoints (45%), basic frustrations such as long wait times (42%), unhelpful automated responses (40%), and getting the run-around (35%) top the list of customer gripes.
In fact, outside of wait times, many customer complaints don’t align with CX teams’ priorities at all. For example, only 25% of CX professionals say making automated responses more helpful is a top priority—that’s a large gap between the 40% of customers who are frustrated by the issue. Similarly, only 28% of CX professionals say reducing channel transfers is a top-three priority, but 88% of customers find it inconvenient. And while 31% of customers are aggravated by having to repeatedly explain an issue, it’s a priority for only 15% of CX professionals.
Here’s the rub.
Time and friction points (any issues at any stage of the customer lifecycle that make it harder to do business) are primary complaints for customers, but not as important to CX professionals—many of whom are focused on delivering more innovative, groundbreaking experiences. Using new technologies or programs to serve customers more effectively is usually a win, but not when it’s done at the expense of the nuts and bolts of the CX process operating friction-free.
Customers don’t need you to aim too high if the basics aren’t covered.
Of course, every customer touchpoint is an opportunity to differentiate yourself, but the research reinforces the merits of listening first and shelving any up- or cross-selling efforts for after the original customer problem or question is resolved. The majority of customers (61%) prefer their customer service interactions focus on solving their immediate issue versus going above and beyond their original request.
Mind the (personalization) gap.
Customers and CX professionals are also misaligned on the importance of personalized service, with 39% of CX professionals citing it as a top-three priority, and only 12% of customers finding it such. It’s worth noting that almost half of customers (45%) say their customer experiences have gotten less personalized over the past year, while nine out of ten CX pros believe their customers’ experiences are personalized. There is also a disconnect between the personalized experience CX pros believe they offer all of the time (40%) and the personalization customers feel they consistently receive (12%).
“Personalization” is, well, personal.
To deliver more personalized experiences, brands must know how individuals prefer to communicate and what motivates them to engage. But here’s the thing: personalization is subjective and can mean different things to different people. We asked both customers and CX pros what types of services would provide a personalized experience. Both groups believe individualized attention and tailored recommendations provide a personalized experience. However, only 25% of customers ranked customizable products or services as important to personalize, versus 39% of CX professionals.
A tip? Prioritize personalization during the renewal stage. CX pros and customers agree this is the stage where they get the least personalized attention than at any other stage in the customer/buying lifecycle.
Customers and CX pros don’t see eye-to-eye on AI.
CX pros see tremendous value and promise in AI, but customers are mostly skeptical. This discrepancy may be due to differences in how AI is defined or a lack of understanding about how it is being used. The biggest area of disconnect is in the speed of service, with 52% of CX professionals saying AI has increased the speed of customer service, compared to only 17% of customers with the same belief. Additionally, 36% of CX professionals believe AI delivers more personalized experiences, compared to only 15% of customers.
Customers prefer human interaction.
Despite the benefits of AI in CX, the lack of human interaction is a very real pain point for customers. More than half (55%) say they prefer human engagement in customer service, compared to only 13% who prefer self-service options. What’s more, nearly two-thirds (63%) of customers would opt for human-generated product or service recommendations over AI-generated recommendations.
Find the sweet spot.
As a person who spends a lot of time working with surveys, I can confidently say human feedback is fundamental to sound decision-making. Fortunately, most CX teams (84%) report it is easy to collect real-time feedback from their customers. The key is doing it consistently.
While there is no simple formula for balancing customer expectations with CX delivery, ongoing information gathering is fundamental to success. The more you dare to ask, listen, then act based on customer feedback, the less friction customers are likely to experience along the way.
