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Study Reveals 'New Rules of Customer Engagement'

• Effortless Resolution is King, Relationships Secondary. When asked to choose between “All I want are my questions answered” and “I want companies to know my mood and respond accordingly,” 80% of respondents chose “my questions answered.” Additionally, the two top-rated responses that created a positive impression of companies were: “I felt they dealt with my request quickly (47%)” and “they understood my issue and history (34%).”
• Companies Need to Navigate Between ‘Stranger’ and ‘Stalker.’ When given a choice of “I like it when service is personalized to me and my interests” and “I am suspicious about how my data is used,” responses were nearly split (51% to 49%, respectively). Younger Americans (ages 18-34) were more comfortable with personalization (59%) compared with Americans ages 35+, where less than half (46%) indicated they would choose personalization over privacy concerns.
• Long-Term Engagements is On the Decline. Since 2012, the percentage of respondents who indicated they maintained a relationship with their service provider for three years or more has declined from 85% to 60%. Americans ages 35+ were more likely to maintain long-term relationships (70%) as compared to younger Americans (ages 18-34), where less than half (40%) indicated they had been with service providers for three years or more.