Vonage Explores the Business Impact of Changing Customer Expectations

The prominent CCaaS vendor assesses the transformation of CX in a digital world

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Vonage Explores the Business Impact of Changing Customer Expectations
Contact CentreNews Analysis

Published: November 2, 2022

Rebekah Carter

Vonage has released a new report, investigating the evolution of customer experience in an omnichannel world.

Based on the responses of 4,638 customers across five global regions the report demonstrates the increasing significance of great experience on business success.

Vonage notes three out of four customers now say they will stop buying from a brand due to bad experiences. Half of these consumers only need to experience one or two incidents before abandoning a company entirely.

According to Vonage, as “digital expectations” evolve, brands must be ready to minimize frustrations and maximize customer delight with advanced, AI-infused solutions for service.

Customers are Still Facing the Same Service Issues

Vonage found that most customers still struggle with the same “frustrations” they’ve been complaining about for years in the recent report.

Around 63 percent of consumers still say long waiting times are the biggest issue they face when connecting with brands.

The same percentage also complained about having to contact customer service multiple times to solve an issue, and 61 percent lamented being transferred to multiple agents, where they had to repeat their issue.

According to the report, around 75 percent of consumers say they’re either very or somewhat likely to stop buying from a brand when regularly exposed to issues like those mentioned above.

Moreover, around one out of four customers say they’ll recount their bad experiences on social media, harming brand reputations.

46 percent also say they’ll complain about a bad customer experience to a service provider, while the same number of consumers would simply switch to another business or service provider.

Alternatively, three in ten consumers under the age of 40 say they’d be willing to pay more for a good customer experience.

Additionally, across all regions consumers say they would be likely to tell friends and family about positive interactions.

36 percent of consumers also say they’d be willing to purchase additional products from the same brand following a good experience.

Addressing Customer Expectations in a Digital World

Vonage notes that the omnichannel CX environment is helping to ease customer frustrations, but it’s not enough on its own. The brand believes business leaders need to consider investing in AI solutions to handle tasks more efficiently.

According to its study, AI can handle simple tasks so human agents can tackle real work and focus on delivering amazing experiences.

For instance, 61 percent of consumers feel frustrated by an agent being unable to answer a question. With AI, companies can provide employees with more information on-demand, add self-service options to customer journeys, and make streamlined service simpler.

Vonage says AI has the power to make streamlined, omnichannel, and efficient experiences simpler, paving the way for the eradication of countless customer service frustrations.

AI makes it easier to understand customers and their specific needs, while allowing companies to build productive automations into workflows.

Vonage also says getting started sooner rather than later is the best strategy for businesses, as AI can learn continuously. The report states:

“The sooner you implement an AI-driven strategy, the sooner you’ll see more robust and accurate customer insights.”

On this AI theme, Vonage recently unveiled a new conversational AI studio, offering the “building blocks” to design, create, and deploy bot-driven solutions.

 

 

Agent AssistArtificial IntelligenceDigital TransformationOmni-channel

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