Creating the Ultimate Consumer Experience: Verizon Survey

Producing the ultimate Customer Experience (CX) is now a vital part of the planning discussion for all business sectors, including financial institutions, according to a global survey of 6,000 consumers.

The Verizon-sponsored survey across 15 countries, conducted by Longitude, a Financial Times company, drilled down into the fundamentals of a CX relationship and what consumers from various age groups (18-65 years) and regions (Asia Pacific, Europe and Canada/U.S.) view as important when starting and maintaining a relationship with a business brand.

The report said a good consumer experience helps to set brands apart, giving them the potential to secure greater share in an increasingly ultra-competitive market. However, CX is not a one-way relationship and consumers increasingly know this too. New regulations such as GDPR give consumers the power to opt out of CX conversations, and also means they can demand more from brands in return.

“The customer is king when it comes to a brand being successful,” Gordon Littley, managing director of Verizon’s Global CX Practice commented. “Today, CX technology has the power to secure, enhance and stimulate a brand’s relationship with a consumer – but it should not define, nor limit them.” Littley noted often the promises made by new CX technologies wrongly become prioritized ahead of individual customer preferences and desires. “Technology innovation can help brands stand out, but customer service basics remain vital –the best relationships will be built on mutual trust and simplicity.”

Here are some key findings:

• Personalization and convenience are frontline battlegrounds. Customers are increasingly demanding when it comes to the type of service they expect. They want an efficient, tailored involvement, which mirrors the way they usually communicate, including with the use of emerging technologies. Thirty-five percent of customers would leave a company with slow apps (compared to 44% of 18-24-year-olds); 59% of consumers said they often abandon online transactions that take too long; 41% of consumers said they would leave a company that can’t meet their request the first time asked; 47% of consumers would go back to a company offering a personalized, intuitive CX, even if a rival was cheaper; 37% are more likely to sign up to a new company if they can use an existing online profile to do so.
• Innovation helps brands stand out but it is vital to continue the basics. Customers want the option of using new technologies, but sometimes just want a personal connection—do not neglect tried and tested channels. Fifty-five percent of 18-to-24-year-old customers said companies that deliver CX using the latest digital technologies attracts them, compared to 47% of all consumers; 42% of consumers are open to companies finding new ways of communicating, such as wearable devices or voice-activated personal assistants. While younger consumers are more open to technologies such as wearables, older people do not rule them out. Just being unable to speak to a real person (34%) or to find a telephone number (21%) would prompt many consumers to switch. Indeed, for 54% of consumers, live telephone is among their preferred channels, and this is high even among younger customers: 38% of 18-to-24-year-olds value telephone interaction, rising to 46% among 25-to-34-year-olds.
• Data is a powerful CX weapon, but only if ethically used, and for the benefit of the customer. “By and large, customers understand that, in order to get the experiences they want, they will need to share some of their data. But it is essential that they feel that they are getting something in return.” Some 45% of 18-to-24-year-olds said they would be prepared to share their data if they get a more intuitive and personalized user experience as a result.
• Building trust is critical to outflanking rivals. A fundamental principle of good CX: customers will not share data with brands they do not trust. Some 69% said “honesty and transparency” surrounding the use of personal data are crucial qualities for companies wanting to win trust with customers. A further 42% stress the need to communicate clearly that they comply with data regulation. Sixty-two percent of consumers said they rarely save their banking details when dealing with a company online in order to speed up their return visit. In this context, there may also be a reward for companies able to offer trusted, rapid, intuitive security processes—63% complain that managing passwords is increasingly complex.
• Data security and privacy are table stakes. If a company suffers a security breach, inevitably it will lose customers. Some 69% of consumers would avoid a company that has suffered a data breach, even if it offers a better deal than competitors; 39% would turn to a competitor if a company did not adhere to their data and privacy settings and preferences. The Americas region is the least forgiving when it comes to breaches – more than a third in total would simply stop working with a business hit by a breach. And there is extreme regional variation – Brazil and Mexico have the harshest view on this of all the countries surveyed globally.