San Mateo, Calif and LondonAugust 18, 2021
Freshworks Inc., a leading software company empowering businesses to delight their customers and employees, today unveiled survey findings that reveal the complexity and contradiction of consumer expectations. With just 14% of customers expecting to be wowed by brands today, the survey findings underscore a major opportunity for companies to exceed expectations in delighting their customers. A majority (77%) of consumers are willing to exchange information for a more personalized, faster and values-driven experience.
“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 personalized 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.”
Low customer expectations for delight offer a big business opportunity
Across the world, consumers revealed surprisingly low expectations for the quality of their customer experiences with companies–confirming that many legacy systems used for customer engagement are broken and ripe for a fresh approach.
– Companies have set a low bar. Just 14% of consumers expect to be wowed by a company, and only 14% expect personalization.
– Don’t believe the hype. Fifty-six percent of consumers said a brand’s customer service often does not match the image they portray.
Consumers expect brands to understand their personal values
With social justice and sustainability discussions dominating global news, people increasingly are identifying with brands based on causes they care about. Sixty-three percent of consumers expect brands to consider their personal values when communicating and will exchange personal information for a better experience.
– Get real. Eighty percent of global consumers want more honesty from brands and two-thirds (67%) seek more empathy.
– Exchange for experience. While 23% consumers won’t share personal information to improve their customer service interactions, the rest are willing to share a range of data in exchange for a better experience, including relationship information (25%), browsing/purchasing data (24%), values they care about (21%), and salary (10%).
Complicated consumers require various communication options
Consumer attitudes toward engaging with companies are complicated and seemingly paradoxical at times. While most seek the human touch, many consumers would rather work with automated technologies. Companies must offer a range of communications channels to meet differing and ever-changing consumer preferences.
– Consumers don’t always add up. While 71% consumers would rather speak with a person than use self-service technologies, 39% would rather go the self-service route than have to speak to a company using any other channel.
– Call me maybe. One in four (26%) don’t enjoy communicating with companies at all, while nearly half (49%) want to hear more from them.
– The demise of email has been greatly exaggerated. Email ranked highest for making a complaint (31%), tracking an order (28%), providing feedback (24%) and product information/support (22%).
Download the report titled, “Deconstructing Delight: Understanding the Complexity of Consumer Expectations.”
Jo Causon, CEO of The Institute of Customer Service said, “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. 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.”
Methodology
Opinium, on behalf of Freshworks, surveyed 11,502 global adults aged 18+, from Australia, Brazil, France, Germany, India, the Netherlands, Singapore, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Statistics were collected from 1st-7th June 2021.
About Freshworks
Freshworks makes it fast and easy for businesses to delight their customers and employees. We do this by taking a fresh approach to building and delivering software that is affordable, quick to implement, and designed for the end user. Headquartered in San Mateo, California, Freshworks has a dedicated team operating from 13 global locations to serve 50,000+ customers including Bridgestone, Chargebee, DeliveryHero, ITV, Klarna, Multichoice, OfficeMax, TaylorMade and Vice Media. For more information visit www.freshworks.com.
© 2021 Freshworks Inc. All rights reserved. Freshworks and its associated logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of Freshworks Inc. All other company, brand and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.
Media Contact:
Jayne Gonzalez
408-348-1087
Author Information
Clint brings over 20 years of market research and consulting experience, focused on emerging technology markets. He was co-founder and CEO of Dash Network, an integrated research and digital media firm focused on the CX market, which was acquired by The Futurum Group in 2022. He previously founded Tractica with a focus on human interaction with technology, including coverage of AI, user interface technologies, advanced computing, and other emerging sectors. Acquired by Informa Group, Clint served as Chief Research Officer for Informa’s research division, Omdia, with management and content strategy responsibility, formed by the combination of Tractica, Ovum, IHS Markit Technology, and Heavy Reading.
Clint was previously the founder and President of Pike Research, a leading market intelligence firm focused on the global clean technology industry, which was acquired by Navigant Consulting where he was Managing Director of the Navigant Research business.
Prior to Pike Research, Clint was Chief Research Officer at ABI Research, a New York-based industry analyst firm concentrating on the impact of emerging technologies on global consumer and business markets.
Clint holds a Master of Business Administration in Telecommunications Management from the University of Dallas and a Bachelor of Arts in History from Washington & Lee University.
