INTERNATIONALCUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

SURVEY 2015 On the strings of emotions

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ABOUT THE SURVEY

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

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.

DEVELOR definition

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CUSTOMER EXPERIENCECustomer 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-panies place CX amongst the highest ranked strategic topics, and almost all aim to be the CX leader of their business segment.

The large number of meetings we had with top CX companies in the past months proved that there are many differing visions and strategies for the topic.

It is impossible to find a single focus for the definition of Customer Experience; there is no accounting for taste. But if you wish to manage CX properly, it is useful to have a good starting point. DEVELOR has therefore created the following definition:

Moreover, the positive or negative impressions that our clients have gained in other sectors affect their opinion about us so that, in effect, we compete with everyone in generating a positive picture. When driving loyalty and commitment, emotional effects are more important than rational ones, and most impressions are not realised consciously, but are recorded and stored in our subconscious mind.

In spite of the fact that the role of human interactions has a crucial importance in generating emotional bonding, customer experience is also influenced by online and call centre transactions. Thus

Touchpoint (TP) is the INTERFACE of a product, service or brand with customers, users, non-customers, employees and other stakeholders, before, during and after a transaction.Touchpoints include advertisements, PR activity, events, branch/representative office/shop, website, web shop, IT helpdesk, online customer service, intranet, call centre etc.

“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 distinguish between negative, neutral, and positive customer experiences. We must consider the customers’ previous experiences in the given business segment.

there can be no excellent customer experience without successfully synchronizing all channels; this is un-doubtedly one of the biggest challenges companies are still faced with.

HINTS&

TIPS

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STRATEGIC IMPORTANCESome 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.

When we approach this topic from the negative side, the situation is no longer so obvious. Only 70% of leaders make a connection between churn and negative experience. This is, of course, the result of the various factors in different sectors that complicate switching providers, like public services, telecom companies, or insurance companies.

The fact that 70% of companies have included this topic among their top three strategic goals is in accord with the data that 70% of them wish to be CX leaders of their sector. The experience of the interviews has shown that – behind the strategy – this intention is often missing and is not yet broken down to the level of plans and projects.

CORPORATE EXECUTIVES‘ OPINION ON CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

In order for the strategy to take effect, the following factors need to be fulfilled:

► Sell the topic in the first round internally to top management, but the whole organisation need to buy in as well

► 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

According to the Oracle Global customer experience survey, in Western countries the topic is handled in a much more strategic way; companies from Central Europe are as yet less focused on it, which is not a surprise as CX is fairly new in the region. Even the telecom companies at the forefront have taken the topic (in the sense we are referring to it) more seriously only in the past five years although customer satisfaction surveys and development programs clearly existed earlier.

Performance-based compensation ele-ments related to CX are not yet common within the organisations, and even if they do exist, they pertain only to top management or the customer service department.

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CUSTOMERS ARE WILLING TO PAY THE BILLThe survey has proved that customers are willing to pay – even significantly – more when they encounter excellent service.

Company executives sense that expectations are growing regardless of the actual growing or stagnating market trends, which is a characteristic of Central European countries. Customer satisfaction cannot be maintained by using the old methods at the same old service level. To exceed expectations, a lot more is needed. The majority of CEOs agree with this, however far fewer of them have taken measures to adequately react to the increasing expectations.

by customers as providing extra value. This phenomenon is not new; so-called material factors have a tendency to lose their novelty-based value, and are not able to keep customers satisfied, let alone loyal. This effect is increased if market players perform their

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 this research. The primary defining factor is not the price, but the service quality that colleagues provide. Loyal customer will pay the price, just as Bain and Co. has shown: returning customers spend on average 33% more.

WILLINGNESS TO PAY MORE FOR HIGHER CX

development investments at the same time; in such cases this action does not bring any special relative advantage, even in the short-term.

Some 31-43% of customers have already paid more for a certain product or service when it resulted in a higher shopping experience for them, regardless of the fact that the surveyed markets are usually strongly cost-conscious. Three out of four people are willing to value

receive a quality service, but they also value it, and are willing to pay a signifi-cantly higher price for it. This shows that the best performers have the possibility to grow, on the one hand through market acquisition, and on the other hand through their existing customers.

HINTS&

TIPS

Material factors have a tendency to lose their novelty-based value

What satisfied the consumer yesterday no longer does so today; indeed, it rather creates dissatisfaction. The modern shop environment and pleasant atmosphere, the user-friendly online platforms and the wide product range have been incorporated into expectations and are not considered

outstanding service quality in the future by paying a 10% surcharge. What is more, 11-17% of people are willing to accept as much as a 30% price premium. Lower value was measured only in Bulgaria.

All in all, though expectations are higher, customers not only expect to

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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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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

DEVELOR improves human & organizational & process aspects of CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE. “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

www.develor.com