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MarketingCharts staff
Through a special arrangement, presented here for discussion is a summary of a current article from MarketingCharts, a Watershed Publishing publication providing up-to-the-minute data and research to marketers.
According to CMO Council’s “The Customer in Context” report, only 15 percent of consumers expect companies “to be everywhere.”
Produced in association with SAP Hybris, the survey asked 2,000 adults in North America and Europe to identify their top attributes of an exceptional experience.
The most important attribute of a great experience identified in the survey was a fast response time to the customer’s needs and issues (52 percent identifying it as being critical). That’s more important than even a knowledgeable staff that’s always at the ready (47 percent) and rewards for loyalty (42 percent).
Only 10 percent selected multiple touch points that add value to their experience as being a critical attribute and only 12 percent felt it was critical to recognize their history with the brand at every touchpoint. Only seven percent cared that it feels like they are doing business with one brand online and a different brand offline.
Intriguingly, a similar response also ranked low on the totem pole in a similar survey conducted a couple of years ago by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). Of 13 elements identified, “company representatives recognize me as a regular customer across all channels” was second from the bottom.
While consistency across channels seems like a logical goal for brands, perhaps customers don’t have as high of an expectation on that front. Alternatively, it may be that they simply don’t feel the need to be recognized all the time.
As the CMO Council’s authors put it, “We want great service in critical channels, and we want value – but we don’t need it all the time and everywhere we turn.”
Oddly enough, while respondents don’t want their history with the brand recognized across all touch points, 38 percent said that they’re angry about not being treated like the loyal customers they are. This presents somewhat of a puzzling conflict.
Still, with many also saying that a “top peeve” of the customer experience is the feeling that they are being followed online, brands will need to walk a fine line.
Intriguingly, a similar response also ranked low on the totem pole in a similar survey conducted a couple of years ago by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). Of 13 elements identified, “company representatives recognize me as a regular customer across all channels” was second from the bottom.
While consistency across channels seems like a logical goal for brands, perhaps customers don’t have as high of an expectation on that front. Alternatively, it may be that they simply don’t feel the need to be recognized all the time.
As the CMO Council’s authors put it, “We want great service in critical channels, and we want value – but we don’t need it all the time and everywhere we turn.”
Oddly enough, while respondents don’t want their history with the brand recognized across all touch points, 38 percent said that they’re angry about not being treated like the loyal customers they are. This presents somewhat of a puzzling conflict.
Still, with many also saying that a “top peeve” of the customer experience is the feeling that they are being followed online, brands will need to walk a fine line.