2022 GLOBAL CONSUMER TRENDS IN THE CX WORLD (PART III)

Explore the Qualtrics 2022 Consumer Trends Report to find out how consumer behavior and preferences will change in the year ahead and what you can do to attract and retain customers moving forward.

Consumers will stop engaging, unless you take action

Requesting feedback has become table stakes for any business. But consumers are clear – if they’re going to give you feedback, they expect a response.

Yet two-thirds of consumers said companies need to get better at listening to their feedback.

There’s only so much time and feedback customers are willing to give before they feel ignored, disillusioned and move on. Customers want a two-way relationship with the companies they buy from, where they feel that their voice is heard, and their feedback is acted on.

The way forward

For 2022, you’ll need to listen harder and demonstrate to your customers that you hear them, and their voice matters. Companies in every industry are becoming ever-more sophisticated at collecting and using feedback to improve the experiences they deliver, and customers now expect it in every interaction they have.

+ Listen, wherever your customers are.

Channel preferences have evolved, so your listening program should too.

+ See the whole picture.

Make indirect feedback part of your strategy so you can understand what customers are saying, wherever they’re saying it.

+ Track the ROI of experience.

Unstructured data will help you to detect emotion, effort and intent – then connect it to a structured framework like CSAT, CES or NPS so you can see their impact on performance.

Treat customers as people, not commodities

Consumers have re-evaluated the relationships they have with business. They have more choice than ever, and their tolerance for bad experience is as low as it’s ever been.

They expect business to treat them as people, and to put them and their needs first. And, the good news is they’re willing to pay more if you do.

As we saw in the previous section, listening to and acting to feedback is a good start, but consumers expect you to go further.

They expect you to do the hard work to create genuine relationships with them. That means interpreting the signals they’re giving you, understanding what they need and then tailoring your response.

The way forward

Companies that can make use of customer data and find smart ways to personalize the experience will differentiate themselves going forward. It’s not all about human intervention either – with the right infrastructure in place, you can effectively tailor and personalize experiences at scale.

+ Turn data into insight.

Gather solicited and unsolicited feedback from every channel whether online, on the phone or face to face – and create a united, 360 degree view of every experience so you can see where to improve.

+ Sense and respond.

Identify points of friction in your most valuable customer journeys, and use the warning signs and signals from customers as triggers to take action, so you can step in and get them back on the right path quickly.

+ Make one-to-many, feel one-to-one.

Build new segmentation models based on experience data, rather than just demographics. By grouping customers by their expressed needs and preferences you can develop targeted offerings that feel 1:1, and deliver them at scale.

For the original report, please visit https://www.qualtrics.com/ebooks-guides/2022-cx-trends/.