Marketers and customer support specialists have been predicting that customers would become more demanding. New data [download page] from Broadridge Financial Solutions certainly indicates that this is the case, with customer desires for better experiences soaring in comparison to pre-pandemic days.
In this year’s report, 69% of consumers surveyed agreed with the statement “Most of the companies I do business with need to improve the customer experience.” That figure has steadily risen over the past couple of years, and, more notably, is about double the result from 2019 (35%).
Research has long suggested that there are consequences for providing a bad customer experience, and this latest study finds the same. Almost two-thirds (65%) of consumers surveyed said they have cut spending with companies that don’t meet their customer experience (CX) standards amid ongoing economic uncertainty. Moreover, 68% reported having lost trust in a company after a poor experience or communication.
Consumers favor personalization of their communications and experiences, and the Broadridge survey indicates that this matters more to younger than older generations. Some 63% of Gen Zers surveyed said they stoped doing business with a company because it did a poor job of personalizing the experience. That figure remained in the majority for Millennials (59%) and Gen Xers (54%), but fell to 45% among Baby Boomers.
In other highlights from the report:
- 81% of consumers said they want companies to customize their experience based on their customer data, up from 74% last year;
- However, only 28% said that companies are “doing great” at this;
- Likewise, although 92% believe that simplification of communications with companies across channels is important, only 35% report getting communications delivered in a simplified manner;
- About 3 in 5 (61%) judge a company’s level of innovation based on the communications they send; and
- More than 4 in 10 (42%) have stopped doing business with a company because of a hack that exposed consumer data.
About the Data: The results are based on an October-November 2022 survey of 4,014 US and Canadian adults (18+).
