SAN FRANCISCO--()--Genesys®, a global cloud leader in AI-Powered Experience Orchestration, has released its latest research report, “The State of Customer Experience,” revealing critical insights into consumer expectations and the evolving priorities of customer experience (CX) leaders worldwide. Notably, nearly two-thirds (64%) of consumers surveyed believe AI will improve the quality and speed of customer experience over the next two to three years. The good news is that organizations are focusing on the integration of AI into their CX strategies to close the gaps between the experiences they’re delivering today, and the services consumers want.

For today’s CX leaders, the potential for AI to transform how their organizations engage with customers is front and center, demonstrated by the 42% who cited increasing the use of AI to improve experiences as a top priority in the survey. For many companies, AI has become so important, they’re investing a whopping 33% of their CX-related spend toward the technology in the coming year. Nearly half (46%) of CX leaders surveyed are investing in AI solutions like copilots and real-time coaching that can help improve the employee experience, which 26% of CX leaders consider critical to ensuring they meet their strategic CX goals.

“Consumers are encouraged by the role AI can play in giving them better customer experiences,” said David Norrie, senior vice president at Genesys. “As organizations continue investing in automation and AI to boost efficiency, they can’t risk missing the bigger picture: Customers want companies to solve their problems quickly and with empathy. This report underscores the opportunity for organizations to use AI to improve their customer relationships through better understanding their customers and to provide faster, more memorable experiences regardless of the channel.”

Failing to deliver on what consumers believe to be a good experience can have significant impact on an organization’s bottom line: More than half (53%) of consumers surveyed said they will abandon a favorite brand after experiencing as few as two poor interactions. In fact, 30% of those surveyed admitted that they stopped doing business with a company in the last year after a bad experience. With 41% of CX leaders surveyed citing keeping pace with consumers’ rising expectations as their greatest challenge, harnessing AI to improve customer experiences is a business imperative.

Other Key Findings:

1. Customers’ Expectations Are Reasonable — Their Hold Times Are Not

  • Regardless of the channel, 86% of consumers surveyed expect to connect with an agent within one to 10 minutes. Unfortunately, over 60% say they’ve waited 15 to 60-plus minutes in the past year.
  • And organizations are underestimating the problem. CX leaders surveyed believe long wait times (10-plus minutes) occur only 10% of the time, illustrating a discrepancy between perception and reality. This suggests that organizations aren’t fully aware of the day-to-day customer experience and the frustrations long wait times cause.

2. First-Contact Resolution Is More Important Than Ever

  • Consumers surveyed ranked first-contact resolution as the most valued aspect of a service interaction, yet CX leaders surveyed ranked it ninth. This highlights a disconnect between customer expectations and business priorities.
  • Only 32% of CX leaders surveyed say their organizations currently track first-contact resolution, despite its potential impact on customer satisfaction and retention. Implementing a measurement strategy for first-contact resolution is a crucial first step for organizations to better understand customer needs, identify service gaps and take meaningful action to improve the overall customer experience.

3. Personalization Drives Loyalty, but the “Privacy Paradox” Remains

  • Seventy-seven percent of consumers surveyed are more likely to recommend a brand that consistently provides personalized service, and nearly three-quarters say they’d buy more from brands that do.
  • Nearly 50% of consumers surveyed want agents to have access to their data to improve personalization, with nearly 70% reporting they get irritated or frustrated when they don’t. This demonstrates consumers’ preference for personalization and willingness to share data with the proper transparency and controls in place.
  • Among the organizations that haven’t yet transitioned their CX capabilities fully into the cloud, 56% of CX leaders surveyed plan to do so within the next two years, recognizing it as a vital step toward enabling AI-driven personalization at scale.

4. Customers Want Seamless Omnichannel Experience — But Organizations Are Lagging

  • Ninety-seven percent of consumers surveyed prioritize seamless omnichannel experiences (e.g., communicating across social channels, chat, phone, etc.), and they expect the ability to transition effortlessly between channels without having to repeat themselves.
  • Only 16% of CX leaders surveyed say their organizations provide fully integrated omnichannel experiences, despite 86% of CX leaders surveyed recognizing the importance of this. This gap highlights a major opportunity for organizations to better align their investments with customer expectations to eliminate frustration.

To learn more about the insights, read the full report here.

Methodology: Genesys worked with an independent research firm to survey 5,157 consumers and 1,181 CX decision-makers in more than 16 countries. The survey was conducted in September and October of 2024. Among the business respondents, the industries represented were airlines, automotive, banking, government, healthcare, insurance, manufacturing, media and entertainment, professional services, retail, travel and hospitality, technology, telecommunications, and utilities.

About Genesys

Genesys empowers more than 8,000 organizations in over 100 countries to improve loyalty and business outcomes by creating the best experiences for their customers and employees. Through Genesys Cloud™, the AI-Powered Experience Orchestration platform, Genesys delivers the future of CX to organizations of all sizes so they can provide empathetic, personalized experience at scale. As the trusted platform that is born in the cloud, Genesys Cloud helps organizations accelerate growth by enabling them to differentiate with the right customer experience at the right time, while driving stronger workforce engagement, efficiency and operational improvements. Visit www.genesys.com.

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