INTERNATIONAL CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE SURVEY 2015 On the strings of emotions
ABOUT THE SURVEY DEVELOR first started to carry out Customer Experience surveys in 2013. Being a committed consultancy firm in the fields of customer experience, sales, leadership and organisational development, we feel it is our responsibility to provide white papers, case studies and research data in the areas of our expertise.
The present study is the outcome of our international survey made in six countries between the summer of 2014 and the beginning of 2015. Four factors give this research a unique viewpoint: ►► It is sector-independent, with the opportunity for sector comparison ►► It is representative of residential and corporate target groups, with comparability of responses and presentation of various perspectives ►► It uses online and personal interviews for deeper analysis ►► Provides an International perspective, run across six countries using the same methodology The research was conducted between June 2014 and February 2015 on behalf of DEVELOR International, with the professional guidance and support of Momentor Research. The residential survey was fulfilled on nationally representative samples of 1,000-1,200 people by country, while more than 300 mid- and senior-level leaders participated in filling out online questionnaires and giving structured in-depth interviews for the corporate survey. The executives represented companies with the most relevance in the topic, including telecom companies, banks and insurance firms, retail chains, hotels, car importers and dealerships, and public service companies. Countries participating in this first International Customer Experience Survey included Hungary, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia. We would like to thank you for your participation in the survey, and we look forward to your participation again next year.
Develor International
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CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE Customer Experience (CX) is a key differentiator in today’s business world. Based on DEVELOR’s International Customer Experience Survey 2015, corporate decision makers reported 21% total income loss where they fail to provide positive, brand consistent CX. There is a huge amount at stake.
It should be no surprise that 90% of com-
Moreover,
panies place CX amongst the highest
impressions that our clients have gained
the
positive
or
negative
ranked strategic topics, and almost all aim to
in other sectors affect their opinion about
be the CX leader of their business segment.
us so that, in effect, we compete with everyone in generating a positive picture.
The large number of meetings we had
When driving loyalty and commitment,
with top CX companies in the past months
emotional effects are more important than
proved that there are many differing
rational ones, and most impressions are
visions and strategies for the topic.
not realised consciously, but are recorded and stored in our subconscious mind.
It is impossible to find a single focus for the definition of Customer Experience;
In spite of the fact that the role of human
there is no accounting for taste. But if you
interactions has a crucial importance
wish to manage CX properly, it is useful to
in
have a good starting point. DEVELOR has
customer experience is also influenced by
therefore created the following definition:
online and call centre transactions. Thus
generating
emotional
bonding,
“Customer Experience is an IMPRESSION that emerges in all Touchpoints – on the basis of previous experiences and expectations – which is effected by rational and emotional, conscious and subconscious impulses.” According to our definition, we can
there can be no excellent customer
distinguish between negative, neutral,
experience
and positive customer experiences. We
synchronizing all channels; this is un-
must consider the customers’ previous
doubtedly one of the biggest challenges
experiences in the given business segment.
companies are still faced with.
without
successfully
DEVELOR definition Touchpoint (TP) is the INTERFACE of a
product,
customers, employees
service
or
users, and
brand
with
non-customers,
other
stakeholders,
before, during and after a transaction. Touchpoints include advertisements, PR activity, events, branch/representative office/shop, helpdesk,
website, online
web
customer
shop,
IT
service,
intranet, call centre etc.
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STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE Some 90% of the leaders of affected sectors find direct correlation between business success and excellent CX. This rate is consistent with survey results in both Western Europe and North America.
TS HIN & S TI P
When we approach this topic from the
The fact that 70% of companies have
negative side, the situation is no longer
included this topic among their top three
so obvious. Only 70% of leaders make a
strategic goals is in accord with the data
connection between churn and negative
that 70% of them wish to be CX leaders
experience. This is, of course, the result
of their sector. The experience of the
of the various factors in different sectors
interviews has shown that – behind the
that complicate switching providers, like
strategy – this intention is often missing
public services, telecom companies, or
and is not yet broken down to the level of
insurance companies.
plans and projects.
CORPORATE EXECUTIVES‘ OPINION ON CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE According to the Oracle Global customer
Performance-based compensation ele-
experience survey, in Western countries the
ments related to CX are not yet common
topic is handled in a much more strategic
within
way; companies from Central Europe are
if they do exist, they pertain only to top
as yet less focused on it, which is not a
management or the customer service
surprise as CX is fairly new in the region.
department.
In order for the strategy to take effect,
Even the telecom companies at the
the following factors need to be fulfilled:
forefront have taken the topic (in the sense
►► Sell the topic in the first round
we are referring to it) more seriously only
internally to top management,
in the past five years although customer
but the whole organisation need
satisfaction surveys and development
to buy in as well
programs clearly existed earlier.
►► Perseverance and consistency in elaborating and implementing Customer Experience development projects is essential ►► Sophisticated self-assessment of current level of customer experience quality and identification of missing elements, coupled with efforts to correct discovered weaknesses
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the
organisations,
and
even
CUSTOMERS ARE WILLING TO PAY THE BILL The survey has proved that customers are willing to pay – even significantly – more when they encounter excellent service.
Company
that
development investments at the same
expectations are growing regardless of
executives
sense
time; in such cases this action does not
the actual growing or stagnating market
bring any special relative advantage,
trends, which is a characteristic of Central
even in the short-term.
European countries. Customer satisfaction cannot be maintained by using the old
Some 31-43% of customers have already
methods at the same old service level.
paid more for a certain product or service
To exceed expectations, a lot more is
when it resulted in a higher shopping
needed. The majority of CEOs agree with
experience
this, however far fewer of them have taken
the fact that the surveyed markets are
measures to adequately react to the
usually strongly cost-conscious. Three
increasing expectations.
out of four people are willing to value
for
them,
regardless
of
Material factors have a tendency to lose their novelty-based value What satisfied the consumer yesterday
outstanding service quality in the future
no
longer
it
rather
does
so
today;
indeed,
by paying a 10% surcharge. What is more,
dissatisfaction.
11-17% of people are willing to accept
The modern shop environment and
as much as a 30% price premium. Lower
pleasant atmosphere, the user-friendly
value was measured only in Bulgaria.
creates
online platforms and the wide product range have been incorporated into
All
expectations and are not considered
higher, customers not only expect to
in
all,
though
expectations
are
TS N I H & S TI P We often meet sales people who complain about the price level and pricing policy of their company, and claim they would be much more successful if they sold their products at
a
more
competitive
(meaning
lower) price. It is worth confronting such colleagues with the findings of WILLINGNESS TO PAY MORE FOR HIGHER CX
this research. The primary defining factor is not the price, but the service
by customers as providing extra value.
receive a quality service, but they also
quality that colleagues provide. Loyal
This phenomenon is not new; so-called
value it, and are willing to pay a signifi-
customer will pay the price, just as Bain
material
factors
cantly higher price for it. This shows that
and Co. has shown: returning customers
to
their
value,
the best performers have the possibility
spend on average 33% more.
and are not able to keep customers
to grow, on the one hand through market
satisfied, let alone loyal. This effect is
acquisition, and on the other hand
increased if market players perform their
through their existing customers.
lose
have
a
tendency
novelty-based
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DEVELOR AS AN INTERNATIONAL CX EXPERT PROVIDES PROJECT DELIVERY CAPACITY IN WHOLE EUROPE AND BEYOND
DEVELOR has been operating through affiliate offices and has executed complex development projects in 20 countries of EMEA since 1992. Our unique offering is based on the following benefits: ►► Exclusive DEVELOR consultants and trainers deliver projects in local languages ►► All experts have solid business background and leadership experience ►► International projects are supported by central project management and quality assurance ►► Special focus on proper preparation and on the implementation phase ►► Clients have one-stop-shopping regarding administration & finances ►► International benchmarks are available ►► Projects are measured by business KPIs, no risk on the client side
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DEVELOR improves human & organizational & process CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE.
aspects of
“We focus on the human touch – the emotional impact of personal interactions with customers.” DEVELOR consulting and training services mix professionalism and passion with a dash of innovation, thus creating lasting value. Our areas of expertise are Customer Experience solutions, Employee Engagement programmes and various leadership and sales courses, along with talent management and organisational development. We operate in 12 countries and have been delivering high-scale, complex measurable development projects in more than 20 countries from Spain to Azerbaijan, from Poland to the Middle East since 1992. DEVELOR’s scope of services involves diagnostics, consulting, training and coaching, delivered by more than 100 exclusive DEVELOR experts. We make learning memorable, change manageable, and the results of our programs measurable. The guarantee on training programmes’ commercial return distinguishes Develor from its competitors. www.develor.com
The professional partner of the International CX Survey
The customer experience researcher We are a research and consulting company that was established in order to understand purchase and sales processes and support the provision of customer experience for service and trade companies. MOMENTOR is not only responsible for the research results, but also for the ways in which they can be used and can be built into the everyday life of the partners. www.momentor.hu
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www.develor.com