2018

Customer
Service
Expectations
SurveyTrends and insightsfrom consumers
about customer serviceTable of Contents
Executive Summary

Methodology
1

Summarized Findings

Highlights

2

Selected Insights and Statistics

Gladly worked with a third party to conduct
an online survey of 935 adults aged 18 andover in the United States. The survey was
fielded between April 21, 2018 to April 24, 2018using Market Cube’s proprietary online survey
software, and a panel of survey participants.

Themes3

Theme 1. Service Matters

3

Data collected from the survey was weighted byage, educational attainment, and race to ensure
the survey sample accurately reflected thedemographic makeup of the U.S. population.

9

The margin of error probability for a sample thissize is +/-3.2%, 19 out of 20 times.

The quality of a company’s customer
service can make (or break) the bank.
Theme 2. Customer Expectations
Today’s consumers expect zero repeats,
one answer, and multiple channels.

Theme 3. Personalization is Key

DETAILED BREAKDOWN

17

21st-century consumers want service
that’s fast, yet still furious(ly) personal.

How to turn Customers
into Cheerleaders21

Customer service expert Shep Hyken
shares his advice on how to turn customers
into your greatest ambassadors.

Putting People at theHeart of Service

22

47% Male, 53% Female
26% Millenials and Gen Z (Ages 18 to 37)
30% Gen X (Ages 38 to 54)
44% Baby Boomers (Ages 55 to 72)

SERVICE MATTERSEXECUTIVE SUMMARY2018 Customer Service
Expectations Survey
Expectations are defined as “the strong
belief that something will happen, or be thecase in the future.” So why is it important tounderstand what consumers expect?
Because it’s those expectations that
influence a consumer’s decisions; which
in turn, influence their loyalty; which theninfluence a company’s long-term revenue.
Companies today realize the immense value that comes fromkeeping their finger on the pulse of their customers’ expectations,which is why the focus on customer experience continues to be
one of the top initiatives for companies this year.
In this year’s Customer Expectations Survey, we saw threemajor themes emerge around the expectations and behavior
of consumers when it comes to customer experience.

The quality of a company’s
customer service can make(or break) the bank.
Consumers truly value a company that provides great service, and they’rewilling to reward or punish companies with their pocketbooks, based on theservice they provide. Of the consumers polled, 92% would stop purchasingfrom a company after 3 (or less) poor customer service experiences.
CUSTOMER EXPECTATIONS

Today’s consumers expect
zero repeats, one answer,
and multiple channels.
Just like in their personal lives, consumers expect to use lots of different
methods of communication when they reach out to companies. But access
isn’t enough—they also want consistency and continuity. 71% desire a
consistent experience across any channel, but it’s a reality for only 29%.
PERSONALIZATION IS KEY

21st-century consumers want
service that’s fast, yet still
furious(ly) personal.
No one has enough time in the day. But while speed is important for service,consumers actually value one thing even more—being treated like unique,valued individuals. We found that being treated like an individual (59%) wasvalued more than the speed of resolution (53%).

1 2018 Customer Service Expectations Survey

HIGHLIGHTSThe Highlight Reel
Quick insights from the consumers surveyed.

54%

MAKE DECISIONS
based on customer service,with 19% considering it the mostimportant deciding factor.

68%

WILL PAY MORE
for products and services froma company with a strong recordof good customer service.

2 2018 Customer Service Expectations Survey

59

%

VALUE
PERSONALIZATION
over speed (53%) when it
comes to customer service.

92%

WILL SWITCH

to another company after 3(or fewer) bad experiences.

98%

TRY TO SKIP THE IVR
in order to get to a humanagent. The top three terms used
are “representative”, “customer
service”, and “live person”.

59%

PREFER HANDING
OUT PARKING TICKETS
over reciting case numbers.

76%

GET CONFLICTINGANSWERS
when dealing with thesame issue with different
representatives.

61%

FEEL THEY’RE TREATED
LIKE CASE NUMBERS
rather than people.

SERVICE MATTERS

The quality of acompany’s customer
service can make(or break) the bank.
3 2018 Customer Service Expectations Survey

SERVICE MATTERS

Great service
pays for itself
Consumers reward companies that provide
great service by not only purchasing more fromthem, but paying more for what they buy.
We all know the adage, one goodturn deserves another. As it turns
out this holds true in customer
service as well, with consumers
willing to reward companies thatprovide a high standard of service
by purchasing more from them.
Of the consumers polled, 74%
cited the quality of customer
service as a ‘very important’, if
not the ‘most important factor’when deciding on a purchase.

And not only are consumers willingto buy more, they’re also willing to
pay more for their purchase. 68%
of respondents said they would
pay more for a product from acompany which had a strong
record of good customer service.
Customer service shouldn’t be seen
by companies as simply a cost of
doing business anymore. Instead,it’s an investment that in time, will
pay for itself many times over.

68%

would pay more
if a company has
great service

33%

would pay
1-9% more

27%

would pay
10-20% more

8%

would pay
20%+ more

4 2018 Customer Service Expectations Survey

22%

BB

4%

Millennials do, however, appear
to place a higher premium on
good service than their Gen X andBaby Boomer counterparts, being
almost four times more likely than
Boomers to spend upwards of
20% for good service.

GEN X

While Millennials were amongst
the most likely to pay for better
service (with 77% answering in theaffirmative), both Gen X and Baby
Boomers came out as just as
likely to do the same, at 71%
and 60% respectively.

MILLENNIALS

Contrary to popular belief paying more for good
service isn’t exclusive to Millennials.

8%

15%

BABY BOOMERS

GEN X

31%
29%
MILLENNIALSGEN XBABY BOOMERS

31%
34%
34%

Paying more forservice isn’t just a“Millennial thing”

MILLENNIALSSERVICE MATTERS

would pay

1-9
more

5 2018 Customer Service Expectations Survey%

would paywould pay

10-20 20+
more

%

more

%

SERVICE MATTERS

The hidden
costs of poor
customer service
Most consumers will forgive a company fora poor customer experience—but three strikes
and you’re out!
While consumers will purchasemore from companies with great
service, they’re also willing to walkaway from a company when they’retreated poorly.
A poor customer experience isinevitable, but companies can findsome comfort in the fact that 73%
of consumers are willing to give acompany more than one chance
before they switch to a competitor.
More accurately, they’re willingto give companies up to threechances, after which only 8% arewilling to stay on.
But that doesn’t mean companies
should rest easy. In fact, for 26% of
the consumers we polled, just one
poor experience was enough forthem to switch to someone else.
It’s critical, therefore, for companies
to identify those poor experiences
and remediate them, before theylose the consumer entirely.

6 2018 Customer Service Expectations Survey

26%

switch after
just one badexperience.

92%

switch after
three orfewer badexperiences.

SERVICE MATTERS

Consumers
will share their“good, bad, andugly” experiences
Customer experiences don’t live or stay in a
vacuum. Consumers will share them with friends,
family, and anyone who will listen on the Internet.
Not only does a positive customer
experience drive consumers to
buy more at a higher price point,
it also encourages them to share
their experiences with friends,
family, and complete strangers
on social media. According toour survey, 80% of consumers
will recommend a company tofriends and family after a goodexperience, while 40% will post
about it on social media.
On the flipside, poor customer
experiences come at a heavy
cost. Of those polled, 67% said
they would actively dissuade

friends and family from buying
from a company that provided
them with poor service, while 42%
would post it on social media.
Consumers are also becoming
more active on social media
when it comes to sharing theirexperiences compared to 2017.
In terms of sharing positive
experiences, we saw a sizeable
12% increase in sharing over lastyear (from 28% to 40%), with acommensurate 11% increase insharing negative experiences(from 31% to 42%).

7 2018 Customer Service Expectations Survey

42
67

%

are likely todissuadefriends
and family%

are likely topost onsocial media

SERVICE MATTERS

Good service isthe best marketing
Consumers may turn to friends and family totalk about service, but when making purchasedecisions, they’re more likely to look online.
While consumers may turn tofriends and family rather than their
keyboards to share their service
experiences, when it comesto making their own purchasedecisions, online referrals often
prove more persuasive.
According to our survey,
consumers are 50% more likely
to rely on online reviews (onwebsites and social media) thanrecommendations from family
and friends when deciding ona purchase. With the increased
sharing on social media over lastyear, coupled with the propensity
to share negative reviews overpositive ones, it’s vitally importantthat companies provide consumers
with a good, consistent experience.
Company-issued advertising,on the other hand, saw theleast reliance, with just 8% ofcustomers turning to them when
making purchase decisions. So forcompanies looking to make a bigger
impact on customer loyalty andrevenue, it makes sense to trade insome of those advertising dollars andinvest in customer service instead.

8 2018 Customer Service Expectations Survey

55
36

%
rely on reviews

from websites
and social media

8%
rely on advice
from friends
and family%

rely onadvertisingCUSTOMER EXPECTATIONS

Today’s consumers
expect zero repeats,
one answer, andmultiple channels.
9 2018 Customer Service Expectations Survey

CUSTOMER EXPECTATIONS

It’s the age ofmulti-channel
With the rise of smartphones and social media,
consumers have a multitude of communication
channels at their disposal, and they expect to beable to use the channel that’s most convenient
for them, or best suited to their issue.
The days where a company could
provide just a phone number
and an email address are longgone. According to our survey,
the typical consumer (one who
contacts customer support
between 1-5 times a year) uses
an average of at least three
types of channels to contact thecompanies they do business with.
And for the more frequent user, that
number jumps to four channels.
Phone, email, and live chat saw
the highest user engagement at
82%, 62%, and 43% respectively.
But there was still healthy demandof an average 20% by consumers

across the board for other supportchannels like in-person, SMS, selfservice, and social media, so theyshouldn’t be ignored by companies
looking to capture the attention(and dollars) of their customers.
As companies continue to invest inproviding a better, more seamlessomnichannel experience, we
expect to see a continued trend
upwards in the average numberof channels that a consumer uses.
This puts the onus on companies
to ensure not only that they provide
access to these channels, butmaintain a high standard of service
across the spectrum as well.

10 2018 Customer Service Expectations Survey

CONSUMER
ENGAGEMENTBY CHANNELBREAKDOWN BY
GENERATION

82%

78% Millennials
79% Gen X

Contacted
by phone

88% Boomers

62%

60% Millennials

Contacted
by email

63% Boomers

64% Gen X

43%

47% Millennials
49% Gen X

Contacted
by live chat

37% Boomers

30%

31% Millennials
32% Gen X

Contacted
in-person

28% Boomers

25%

41% Millennials

Contacted
via social media

22%

Contacted
via SMS

21

%

Used
online FAQs

26% Gen X
14% Boomers
22% Millennials
24% Gen X
20% Boomers
29% Millennials
21% Gen X
14% Boomers

CUSTOMER EXPECTATIONS

Seamless
expectations
In the same way they speak with friends
or family, consumers want to switch between
channels without losing the context of theirconversation. Yet only 22% of consumers
have experienced seamless transitions.
Consumers today want the same
experience that they have when
they speak with friends and family,
with the businesses they interact
with. They aren’t reaching out via asingle channel anymore, switching
instead between channels
depending on what’s mostconvenient for them.
But just like their personal
conversations, they expect thatthe context of their previous
interactions shouldn’t be lost, andthey should be able to simply pickup where they last left off.

And while a seamless, omnichannel
experience is a reality in theirpersonal lives, an overwhelming
78% of consumers feel when it
comes to communicating withbusinesses, this experience israre, or never happens.
This level of dissatisfaction amongcustomers has increased 3%(from 75% in our 2017 survey),
an indicator that consumer
expectations are outpacing
companies’ efforts when it
comes to providing a seamless,omnichannel experience.

11 2018 Customer Service Expectations Survey

78%

feel that omnichannel
support is rare ornever happens.

CUSTOMER EXPECTATIONSConsistency
across channels
is queen
It isn’t enough to provide an array ofcommunication channels. Consumers expect
companies to provide a consistently highexperience throughout those channels.
While companies might choose to
split their support teams according
to channel, the average consumer
is blissfully unaware of the innerworkings of their contact center.
They just want to reach out andreceive support on the channelof their choosing.
But unfortunately, the majority
of consumers aren’t getting theconsistent experience they seek,

with more than three quartersof consumers having received
conflicting information when theyreached out on a different channel,
or spoke to another agent.
Apart from this being a frustrating
experience for consumers, it also
results in a loss in confidence andtrust in the company, making themmore likely to turn elsewhere for
their needs down the road.

12 2018 Customer Service Expectations Survey

76%

receive conflicting
answers.

CUSTOMER EXPECTATIONS

Rinse + Repeat =Irritation
Consumers want the companies they purchasefrom to know their prior history of interactions;they don’t want to repeat themselves each timethey use a new channel, or speak to a new agent.
To follow up on an issue, acustomer has to take precious
minutes out of their already busy
day—the last thing they want to
do is spend more of their timerehashing conversations andinformation the company should
already know. Unsurprisingly, we
found that 87% of consumers felt
frustrated when having to repeat
themselves several times to different
agents about the same issue.
Consumers want companies toknow their previous interactions
with them. A whopping 71% of theconsumers we asked want thecompanies they purchase fromto know and remember theirprevious interactions with them.
Yet despite this overwhelming
desire, only 29% of consumers
reported experiencing it some, or
all of the time.
With today’s technology, it’s
possible for customer support
teams to better track and record
previous conversations, andmaintain a single view of thecustomer that is easily accessible
to any agent who helps thecustomer down the line. Now that’s
the power of innovation.

13 2018 Customer Service Expectations Survey

62%

would rather hand out
parking tickets than
repeat themselves

CUSTOMER EXPECTATIONS

Self-service
could use an
upgradeDespite the much-touted benefits, mostconsumers aren’t warming up to self-service
support, with the biggest complaints centeredaround a poor user experience.
Self-service support—like acompany’s FAQs, chatbots, or IVR(the automated phone systems
where you press or say “1” forEnglish)—have been embraced
by companies over the years asa relatively cheap, easy way toprovide customers with 24/7 help,
at their convenience.
Yet despite these lauded benefits,
self-service support ranks as oneof the least-used or liked methodsof communication (in fact, in thisyear’s survey, FAQs were theleast-used method of support).

Self-service has plenty of benefits
to companies when it comes toefficiency and reducing costs,
but only if customers actually use
them to help serve themselves.
Otherwise, it can actually costcompanies more than they save.
In a recent Harvard Business
Review case study, it was foundthat introducing self-service
options at a national retail bankhad in fact increased their support
volume, and resulted in customers
visiting and calling the bank more
instead of less.

14 2018 Customer Service Expectations Survey

21
Only

%

used FAQs in thelast 12 months

CUSTOMER EXPECTATIONS

Nearly everyone
tries to avoid IVR
Despite advancements in IVR technology over
the years, consumers are still resistant to using
this automated system of support.
Interactive voice response (orIVR) has come a long way fromthe simple touch-tone directoryof the past. Today’s IVRs leveragecomplex technologies like speechrecognition and AI-capabilities
to help route, or even answer
customer questions directly.
Yet despite these advancements,
IVR remains a wildly unpopular

choice amongst consumers,
with 98% admitting they try
to bypass companies IVR
systems to get straight to ahuman service agent.
The top three words orphrases consumers used to
bypass IVR were “representative”(34%), “customer service” (27%),and “live person” (15%).

  Click to Share 98% of customers try to bypass IVR

15 2018 Customer Service Expectations Survey

98%

try to bypass
IVR to talk toa human.

CUSTOMER EXPECTATIONS

Chatbots andFAQs need morehuman assistanceMore than half of consumers were disappointed
with their chatbot and FAQ experience.
The use of chatbots andFAQs have exploded amongst
companies today. But as morecompanies climb aboard theself-service bandwagon, thisenthusiasm hasn’t quite caught onwith the very people they’re meant
to serve—the customers.
More than half of consumers who
used chatbots (53%) and FAQs
(51%) rated their experience atthe lowest end of the scale (either‘average’ or ‘poor’). When asked
to explain why, it all came down topoor user experience.

questions, provided unrelated
information, and couldn’t handle
complex questions.
For FAQ users, the top threecomplaints were that the answers
were too generic and lacked detail,were poorly organized, and couldn’t
answer complex questions.
These channels are only as
good as the information they’re
programmed with, so companies
should consider more humanassistance to better their nonhuman support offerings

The top three complaints about
chatbots were that they took too
long to provide answers to simple

16 2018 Customer Service Expectations Survey

more than halfreported “average”
or “poor” experienceswith chatbots or FAQs

PERSONALIZATION IS KEY

21 -century consumers
want service
that’s fast, yet still
furious(ly) personal.
st

17 2018 Customer Service Expectations Survey

PERSONALIZATION IS KEY

Consumers preferpersonalization
over speed
While consumers value speed in getting theirissues resolved, it isn’t the most important factor.
Instead, they favor service that’s personal, overservice that’s simply fast.
Like bees to honey, consumers
are drawn to the channel they
think is fastest.
In our survey, we found that—save for email and in-person
support—a consumer’s preferredchannel matched directly with themethod they thought was fastest.

Yet, while consumers obviously value
speed, they also want service that’s
personalized. They want companies
to demonstrate they know who theconsumer is, and their history withthem. In fact, we found that a higher
proportion of consumers valued
having service that’s personalized,
over receiving service that’s fast.

18 2018 Customer Service Expectations Survey

59%

rated personalization“very important”

53%

rated speed“very important”

PERSONALIZATION IS KEY

To know me
is to love me
As human beings we have a natural desire to berecognized as unique, valued individuals. Insteadof being identified by a ticket or case number,consumers want the companies they buy from tomake the effort to know who they are, and their
history with the company.
Consumers don’t expect companies
to know them the way a friend or
family member might. But they dowant the companies they purchasefrom to have a general sense of
who they are, instead of treating
every interaction as if it were brandnew, or asking for a ticket number
at every turn.
According to our survey, 76% ofconsumers want the companies
they’ve done business with toremember who they are, and their
history with the company. Yet despite
this strong desire to be known,a surprising 61% of consumers

feel as if they’re treated likeanonymous tickets, rather
than individuals.
While 61% is a huge percentage
of consumers, the good news
is that this number has comedown significantly from the 67%
who felt this way when we asked
this question last year. It’s asizeable decrease of 6%, whichmeans companies are steppingup their game when it comesto recognizing and valuing theircustomers’ individuality—though
there’s still some ways to go.

19 2018 Customer Service Expectations Survey

76 61
%

want companies
to remember
who they are%feel treatedmore like tickets
than peoplePERSONALIZATION IS KEY

What can companies
do to make customers
feel unique?
Get personal.
We asked customers for the
one thing a company could
do to make them feel likeunique, valued individuals.

38
%
27

%

know theirpreviousinteractions

follow up to
ensure they’resatisfied

15%

know theirpurchase history

20 2018 Customer Service Expectations Survey

20%

greet themby nameBEST PRACTICESHow to turn
Customers into
Cheerleaders
We had best-selling author
Shep Hyken share his secretsauce for how companies canturn their customers into theirbiggest advocates.
Be where your customers are.

“Time is precious—
for you, and yourcustomers—so look forways to optimize andstreamline processes
in your workflow.”  Click to Share this Tip

There’s no one, magic method of communication that all
your customers are using—they just want to use what’s
most convenient for them, at that moment in time. So makeit easy for them to reach you by providing support acrossevery channel. At the same time, keep an eye out to ensurethat they’re getting the same standard of service across all
those methods, so they’re not treated any better or worse
depending on the method they use—or worse still, getconflicting answers.
One tip for consistency? Have clear guidelines on yourcompany’s voice and values in place, and communicate
them to your support team through regular training.
Empower your team to always fall back on these values,
so that even if you aren’t standing right behind them,
they’ll make the right decision for your company, with yourcustomers best interests at heart.

21 2018 Customer Service Expectations Survey

Put the customer at
the top of your pyramid.
Doesn’t it feel great when you walk into your usual coffee
place and they just know your name and order? Yourcustomers get that same fuzzy feeling when they’reremembered, so try to make this experience happen forthem. Start small by getting to know their names, and thenprogress up to providing bigger value-adds, like making
product or size recommendations based on what they’vepurchased before. The technology and tools are out there
to help you do this, it’s all about leveraging them.

Put the focus on efficiency
and convenience.
Time is precious—for you, and your customers—so look forways to optimize and streamline processes in your workflow.
For example, rather than have your customers repeat theirissue and history each time they reach out to a new agent,
put a system in place that lets agents see the context
around who they’re speaking with (like their loyalty number,or a summary of their earlier calls). Not only does this help
agents solve issues faster, but it reduces your customer’s
overall effort—a surefire way to your customer’s heart.

Listen to your customers.
Before your customers can become your cheerleaders,
you have to make them feel like a part of your team. And
there’s no better way to do it than by reaching out andgetting their feedback on how you’re doing, and what you
can do better. But don’t just gather feedback for the sakeof it—actually act on that feedback, then be sure to close
the loop, letting your customers know how and when theirideas are being implemented. When your customers feelheard and listened to, they feel connected to your brandas an individual, so they’re more likely to advocate on yourbehalf. And those customers turned cheerleaders will beusing their megaphone to champion the great experience
they’ve had with your company.

“Before your customers
can become yourcheerleaders, you haveto make them feel like apart of your team. And
there’s no better way to
do it than by reachingout and getting their
feedback on how you’re
doing, and what you
can do better.”HOW GLADLY CAN HELP

Putting people at theheart of service
How to deliver customer service
focused on people, not tickets.
As the data shows, today’s consumers want to feel
known and connected to the brands they purchase fromespecially if they’re repeat customers or have shown
longtime loyalty. They want companies to provide service
that’s personalized based on their history with them.
And they expect the context of their past interactions tofollow them to their present conversations—even whenthey’re speaking to a different agent or using a different
communication channel.
At Gladly, we wanted to reinvent customer service tohelp facilitate that human connection. Instead of routing‘tickets’ and ‘cases’ we route people, and with them, their
entire history of conversations and interactions, so agentscan see a complete view of the customer and use thatto provide the seamless, omnichannel experience that
customers desire. An experience that not only engenders
the loyalty that keeps them coming back, but encourages
them to champion a brand to friends and family alike.
If you’re ready to get rid of tickets and cases and learn
how to center your service around people, send an email
to ben@gladly.com and we’ll be happy to continue theconversation with you.