Customer and employee engagement software provider Freshworks has revealed the results of a global survey into evolving customer experience expectations.
Freshworks provides a software as a service suite, with its flagship customer experience product being customer service platform Freshdesk (which the company was previously named after), as well as a chatbot offering named Freshchat and cloud phone system known as Freshcaller.
The survey of 11,502 consumers was carried out in partnership with Opinium and found that only 14% of customers expect to be wowed by brands, signalling there is plenty of room for companies to exceed customer expectations. The same percentage expect personalisation, while 56% said that a brand’s customer service often doesn’t match the image it seeks to portray.
“Customers rule the world, and many of them have shown empathy by adjusting expectations for companies over the trials and tribulations of the pandemic,” said Stacey Epstein, Chief Marketing Officer at Freshworks.
“We are seeing now that many will exchange information about everything from personal values to salary information for personalised service that improves their experience. The takeaway for companies is that they can no longer separate their product from the customer experience; instead, it is a business imperative for companies to make it easy to delight their customers through thoughtful, easy and speedy interactions that reflect customer values.”
Other findings included the fact that 77% of consumers are willing to exchange their data in order to receive a more personalised experience, while 80% desire more honesty and 67% more empathy from brands.
“For businesses looking to develop deeper, more personal connections with their customers, they should take consumer values into consideration in their approach to communication. Our own research supports these findings from Freshworks, with many customers now paying much closer attention to brands’ ethics and approach to sustainability,” said Jo Causon, CEO of The Institute of Customer Service.
“The proportion of customers willing to pay more for better service is increasing, and there is a strong link between a better customer experience, greater customer loyalty and long-term business performance.”
The survey was conducted from the 1st to the 7th of June 2021, and included adults from Australia, Brazil, France, Germany, India, the Netherlands, Singapore, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
