Customer experience more important than ever as new report finds nearly half of consumers say it shapes their brand opinion

Execs in the Know survey underscores the importance of investing in CX solutions; research finds a multi-channel approach is a must to meet consumers’ support preferences

CHICAGO – Oct. 5, 2021 –Hinduja Global Solutions (HGS), a global leader in business process management (BPM) and digital user experience solutions, shares its expertise as a contributor and exclusive sponsor of the Execs In The Know CX Leaders Trends and Insights: Consumer Edition 2021 report. The report, conducted by Execs In The Know, an executive think tank and global community of customer experience (CX) professionals, reveals how brands can optimize their customer care with digital and unassisted channels as expectations change.

Key Findings:

  • Consumers want a quick and easy process to resolve issues. Only 10% of consumers said resolving their customer care issues has gotten easier in 2021, compared to an average of 34% over the past three years. Consumer’s rank “Fair and Honest Treatment” (29%) and “Quick and Easy Process” (25%) as most important when dealing with customer care to resolve their issues
  • Digital and unassisted channel adoption continues to rise. In 2021, 64% of consumers used the phone to engage with customer support. Yet, consumers indicated a lower preference for voice (40%) and a higher combined preference for SMS-based support (39%) and self-help (15%) if they knew their issue was going to be resolved.
  • Investments are still needed to address rising customer expectations. Today, consumers still rank improving the Customer Care Experience as the top opportunity where brands can improve at 53%. Creating better products and services top the list at 41% of consumers sharing where brands could most effectively improve the customer experience.

“The survey results show that it’s no longer enough to provide exceptional customer care through one channel or another,” said Andrew Kokes, Senior Vice President, Global Head of Marketing, HGS. “Consumers now expect brands to anticipate their needs and proactively help them get the right answer fast. When one brand raises the bar on speed of service or ease of doing business, consumers immediately expect all companies to elevate to the same experience level. To maximize customer value, brands must think customer centric and make interactions faster and more frictionless for consumers. By leveraging technology to address customers most basic needs and intelligently integrating people when it adds value to an interaction, brands can take customer engagement to the next level.”

To read the full report with all the findings and HGS’s commentary, please click here.

About Hinduja Global Solutions (HGS)

A global leader in business process management (BPM) and optimizing the customer experience lifecycle, HGS is helping make its clients more competitive every day. HGS combines technology-powered services in automation, analytics and digital transformation, with deep domain expertise focusing on back-office processing, contact centers, traditional and digital people care, to deliver transformational impact to clients. Part of the multi-billion-dollar conglomerate Hinduja Group, HGS takes a true “globally local” approach, with 42,769 employees across 55 delivery centers in seven countries (as of 30th June 2021), making a difference to some of the world’s leading brands across nine key verticals. For the year that ended 31st March 2021, HGS had revenues of US$ 753.9 million.

Visit https://www.hgs.cx to learn how HGS can help make your business more competitive.

About EXECS In The Know

Execs In The Know brings together customer experience (CX) leaders from across industries in an effort to advance the conversation and set a new agenda for delivering amazing experiences for consumers. As a global community of the brightest minds in CX, Execs In The Know provides opportunities to learn, share, network, and engage to innovate. Operating under the motto of “Leaders Learning From Leaders,” Execs In The Know facilitates many opportunities for community engagement such as their bi-annual national event, Customer Response Summit; virtual CX series, CustomerCONNECT; and private, online community, Know It All. There are also exclusive, laser-focused engagements like industry briefings, virtual luncheons, and executive roundtables. Execs In The Know also guides and informs the industry with a rich tapestry of CX-related content that includes CX Insight magazine, industry research, webinars, podcasts, blogs, and much more.

Author Information

As a detail-oriented researcher, Sherril is expert at discovering, gathering and compiling industry and market data to create clear, actionable market and competitive intelligence. With deep experience in market analysis and segmentation she is a consummate collaborator with strong communication skills adept at supporting and forming relationships with cross-functional teams in all levels of organizations.

Sherril holds a Master of Business Administration in Marketing from University of Colorado, Boulder and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Rutgers University.

Latest Insights:
Conduent's $447M Refinancing Clears the Path for AI-Led Growth
October 24, 2026
Article
Article

Conduent's $447M Refinancing Clears the Path for AI-Led Growth

Conduent closed a $447 million refinancing deal, extending credit facilities and reducing financial risk while enabling execution of its ASCEND 2026–28 strategic plan to become a premier AI-led business process partner....
Cadence AuraStack
October 23, 2026
Article
Article

Nokia Designs Network Hardware 5x Faster on Cadence's Agentic Supercomputer

Brendan Burke, Research Director at Futurum, shares his insights on Nokia deploying Cadence's AuraStack AI Super Agent on the Millennium M2000, why the on-premises system sale answers Synopsys Autopilot, and what a...
OpenShell agent security
October 23, 2026
Article
Article

SUSE OpenShell Agent Security: Enforcement Is Table Stakes, Proof Is Not

Vikram Rathnam and Mitch Ashley of The Futurum Group share insights on SUSE's OpenShell agent security news and why proof of what an agent did, not enforcement, will separate the enterprise Linux...
Google Cloud Marketplace Can It Become Gemini's Front Door to the Enterprise
October 23, 2026
Article
Article

Google Cloud Marketplace: Can It Become Gemini’s Front Door to the Enterprise?

Alex Smith, Analyst at The Futurum Group, shares insights on how Google Cloud Marketplace is becoming the commercial engine for Gemini, industry agents, and agentic ISV solutions....
Latest Research:
The Storage Squeeze How Smart Organizations Are Funding Their AI Future
October 20, 2026

The Storage Squeeze: How Smart Organizations Are Funding Their AI Future

In our latest Thought Leadership Brief, The Storage Squeeze: How Smart Organizations Are Funding Their AI Future, completed in partnership with CTERA, Futurum Research examines how unmanaged data growth drains...
Closing the Enterprise Context Gap
October 16, 2026

Closing the Enterprise Context Gap

In our latest thought leadership brief, Closing the Enterprise Context Gap, completed in partnership with Teradata, Futurum Research examines why autonomous AI agents stall before reaching production and outlines the...
Delegating Outcomes: How a Universal Agent Changes the Way Enterprises Work
October 15, 2026

Delegating Outcomes: How a Universal Agent Changes the Way Enterprises Work

In our latest thought leadership brief, Delegating Outcomes: How a Universal Agent Changes the Way Enterprises Work, completed in partnership with Google Cloud, Futurum Research examines why first-generation agent programs...

Book a Demo

Welcome

The vision behind everything in Futurum’s Custom Research practice is this: research should show you what is happening, what comes next, and what to do about it. It should be personal to each audience, easy for people to grasp, and structured so LLMs can reason over it accurately. And it should be fast and turnkey; you want answers now, not another project to carry for quarters.

Whether you are defining business, channel, or go-to-market strategy; evaluating vendors or justifying ROI; or commissioning research to fill an emerging market need, we have your back, with a program that answers your questions with the objectivity and credibility to drive real decisions.

To do it, we bring unmatched data to bear: Futurum research, surveys, and market projections; validated market feeds; ETR’s 15 years of insight from 10,000 technology decision-makers; G2’s buyer and user data; and what our analysts hear every day. Add leading primary collection, from AI-moderated voice interviews to surveys and analyst-led interviews, all turnkey, and every project comes out credible, nuanced, and actionable.

And we don’t just drop the results in your lap. For internal work, we provide analyst-led sessions, interactive dashboards, and a range of formats. For market-facing work, Futurum delivers turnkey activation and amplification that actually gets seen, by people and by LLMs, through our media and share of voice. This is research that moves decisions and markets.

We will meet you wherever you are, from a fast-turn brief to a multi-year program, and shape the work to your goals, timeline, and budget. The right program for your moment.

If any of this is useful, I would love to talk.

Benjamin Brown, VP Custom Research, Futurum Research

Benjamin Brown

VP, Custom Research · The Futurum Group

Newsletter Sign-up Form

Get important insights straight to your inbox, receive first looks at eBooks, exclusive event invitations, custom content, and more. We promise not to spam you or sell your name to anyone. You can always unsubscribe at any time.

All fields are required






Thank you, we received your request, a member of our team will be in contact with you.