At the end of 2015, Richard Shapiro of Customer Think published predictions of customer experience trends he thought would occur in 2016. This is part two of a two-part series based on Customer Experience Trends for 2016. If you missed the 9 trends in Part 1, it’s available here.
The final seven trends from Shapiro, and industry research that supports each trend, are listed below:
10. Customer response becomes even faster.
Consumers will no longer rate the company just on product delivery turnaround time. Speedy turnaround time to resolve issues and answer questions becomes essential. Answering emails 24 hours later is literally yesterday’s news.
Research: Salespeople have a 100 times greater chance of making a successful contact with a lead within five minutes of an inquiry, as opposed to 30 minutes. 2014 Lead Response Report, Inside Sales.
11. Social responsibility is now part of the norm for your business model.
Millennials lead with their desire to buy from companies who are socially responsible. TOMS sells shoes and their mission is “One for one, a belief that getting and giving can be one.” They walk the talk by donating one shoe for every shoe that’s purchased. Corporate philanthropy in no longer in the back office; it’s moved front and center.
Research: Fifty-five percent of global online consumers across 60 countries say they are willing to pay more for products and services provided by companies that are committed to positive social and environmental impact. Nielsen Survey
12. Protecting customer information is paramount.
Consumers expect their data to be secure. Companies who fail to protect consumer data have lost significant revenue in the short term and loyalty long term.
Research: 89% of U.S. consumers said they had avoided doing business with a company because of concerns about how it handled their online privacy. Harris Interactive poll sponsored by TRUSTe
13. Customer service includes the entire family.
Verizon Wireless, Amazon Prime and Netflix understand the value of marketing to the entire household and are building data based on the individual members of their Family Plans. The model makes it easy to hand the baton from one generation to the next.
Research: 84% of consumers say they either completely or somewhat trust recommendations from family, colleagues, and friends about products – making these recommendations the information source ranked highest for trustworthiness. Nielson
14. Customers demand an authentic response.
Companies have finally learned that social media is just another channel of consumer communication. Consumers are not looking for “corporate speak” but friendly and personal dialogs. Representatives are being encouraged to evaluate the characteristics of posts and respond in the same tone and messaging.
Research: 71% of consumers who experience positive social customer care are likely to recommend the brand to others, compared with just 19% of customers who do not get a response. NM Incite
15. It’s vital to understand the customer’s emotions.
Customers are people first and customers second. Perhaps now more than ever, it is vital to listen to a customer and understand his or her underlying emotion, being tuned in not only to words but what is behind them. Technology will always be in flux, but emotions remain a constant. Those companies that can incorporate the human component into their service design will be more successful.
Research:70% of buying experiences are based on how the customer feels they are being treated. McKinsey
16. This is the new era of the endangered customer.
There has never been more competition. Customers are empowered by increasing control over the retail process, as the digital, global marketplace delivers ever greater choice and saves them time, money, and hassle. The challenge for companies and brands across all service categories and channels today, from ecommerce, contact centers and brick-and-mortar, is to engender loyalty – but the loyal customer is an endangered species.
Research: 91% of unhappy customers will not willingly do business with you again. Help Scout
What It Means
There are a lot of interesting statistics here, and you might even find yourself sharing some of these with your friends, but the real purpose of reading these statistics is to cause us all to pause a minute and think about our customers.
It’s Friday, how did your customers feel about your CX this week? While you mull that over, here are two more statistics from Marketing Metrics to consider:
- There’s a 5 – 20% probability of selling to a new customer.
- There’s a 60 – 70% probability of selling to an existing customer.
That’s why every customer experience matters every time.
