The Qualtrics XM Institute spoke to over 33,000 consumers across 29 countries about what makes them loyal to brands. The answer? Brands need to be more human – and they’ll reward companies that make them feel a real connection.
Trend 1: Find the human connection in physical and digital worlds
As in 2022, consumers want to find the human experience among the impersonal online shopping transactions that make up a lot of our digital interactions.
We examined one of the main areas of customer connection, the contact center, to see what matters most for consumers. As it turns out, the convenience of shorter wait times isn’t the key factor that impresses customers – it’s the human connection they feel when engaging with your brand.
Of the thousands of people we consulted, 6.2% said helpful agents made them happy in their contact center experience, and 5.2% said agent empathy made a difference. In comparison, only 2.7% valued low wait times.
Applying this same philosophy of human connection to other areas where your brand and customers meet will increase the likelihood to return, rewarding your business in consumer spend and customer loyalty.
Trend 2: Get closer to hold consumer interest
One area that needs to take center stage is the customer experience. Given that in 2022, 63% of consumers said that companies needed to do a better job of listening to feedback in this area, this isn’t surprising.
In these difficult periods, many consumers are evaluating not only the services they need, but what experiences those services provide. Long-term market share is actually won in a down market as purchasing decisions end up being about experience, not utility.
Being closer to customers means you understand what matters to them most. Personalizing your offering to their needs and closing experience gaps as times change will be the make-it-or-break-it strategy for your brand’s longer-term success.
Trend 3: Understand needs through genuine, human listening
Empathy is the overriding factor that customers desire in their experiences in the digital world, and it’s something that’s distinctly lacking in many customers’ current brand relationships. In 2022, the call for better listening came through loud and clear.
For 2023, we found 36% of consumers are still unhappy with the empathy shown in their customer service interactions.
Understanding customers means more than just looking at post-purchase survey feedback. Deep connections are built with a thorough examination of your unstructured data such as contact center call transcripts, online reviews, social media posts, and more.
Not only that, but video – now the primary communication method for many consumers – is a vitally important untapped resource for consumer insight.
Source : www.qualtrics.com
