Infographic: 6 things customers wish brands would get right

The newest report in our Customer Intelligence Series, Experience is everything: Here’s how to get it right analyses what it is customers really want when they interact with brands. The positive out of the survey is that when shoppers have a great customer experience they’ll buy more, be more loyal and share the news with friends.

All good things. At the same time, however, it found that a lot of customers are not happy with the experience currently provided by companies, particularly when they put their efforts into technology at the expense of human touch. It turns out that consumers want more human interaction, not less.

Here are six takeaways from the report that can help brands optimise the tech-human mix.

  • The price premium is real – and it’s big. Happiness isn’t the only thing that a good experience will drive. Customers globally are willing to pay up to 16% more for products and services. That’s a lot of tangible dollars.
  • Bad experience is driving customers away – fast.  One in three customers will stop interacting with a company if they have even one bad experience. A quarter will leave despite it being a brand they love.
  • Companies need to get the must-do’s right. The most important elements to consumers are speed, convenience, friendly service and helpful employees. They want up-to-date technology but it needs to provide the above benefits, not just be cool.
  • The employee experience is the cornerstone. 81% of Australian consumers want more human interaction in the future. This doesn’t mean technology can be ignored, just that it should be the seamless baseline.
  • Give up generational fixation. While Gen Z might have narrower definitions of what ‘speed’ and ‘knowledge’ mean, what they want, everyone wants. Convenience knows no age.
  • Experience is strategy. Customers want good experiences with their brands, but they don’t always get them. Given how many consumers will leave upon a bad interaction, this can’t be ignored.

View our earlier article on Digital Pulse for the Australian statistics gleaned from the survey, or download the report for a global perspective.