Listening to the consumers: A key differentiator to enhancing satisfaction

Customer expectations are always evolving. If a company wants to keep up with these evolving expectations, it must aggressively track them. Even if customers aren’t vocal about their needs, brands must find a way to listen to the consumers. Understanding this can lead to higher satisfaction, loyalty, and advocacy.  

TP’s Global Insights Survey, encompassing feedback from over 57K consumers across 19 sectors and 11 countries, illustrates this connection. The report suggests that consumers who were able to reach brands through their preferred channels showed a significant uplift in satisfaction (+4%), loyalty (+4%), and advocacy (+12 percentage points). This clearly demonstrates how important active listening to the customers is for enhancing satisfaction. 

Why does listening to the customer matter? 

Let’s explore the connection between customer satisfaction and effective listening. 

   
Building a strategy based on the assumption that you know your customers does not work. It’s crucial for data and trends to validate your assumptions. For instance, TP’s survey indicates that 68% of consumers contacted brands in the past year. 

If you plan on eradicating the means for customers to contact your brand and automating every aspect of interaction, it could negatively impact customer experience. It’s equally important to understand the channels customers are using to contact your brand. Diversify the channels customers have at their disposal, especially while catering to a wide customer base across ages and regions. 

The data further validates this by discovering that customers engaging through multiple communication channels (37% of those surveyed) are notably more satisfied and loyal. Companies attentive to these channel preferences are better positioned to cultivate lasting customer relationships.

Also read: Is using AI for customer service a smart choice

What customers are saying about communication across channels

The survey revealed that despite digital transformations, traditional channels remain strong. However, emerging digital platforms are also gaining momentum. 

Let’s unpack this: 

1. While voice remains the most used channel (45%), its usage has declined notably among younger demographics. 
2. Millennials and Gen Z have embraced Instant Messaging (WhatsApp, Messenger), Mobile Apps, and Social Media channels like Instagram, reflecting changing consumer preferences.
3. The survey pointed out that satisfaction with brand interaction was significantly higher for customers who communicated through their preferred channels. 
4. Mobile app interactions ranked highest for customer satisfaction, followed by Instant Messaging and Chat with Live Agents. 

Brands that listen to these insights and facilitate easy communication across preferred channels can significantly enhance consumer satisfaction and loyalty.

Do customers prefer human support over GenAI-powered automated responses?

Despite the growing prevalence of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) in customer service, human interaction remains preferred by a majority of consumers. According to TP’s findings, 62% of customers prefer interacting with human agents consistently, especially when addressing complex or urgent matters. 

The underlying reason for this preference lies in the following: 
 
1. Perceived empathy
2. A true understanding of the problem
3. The emotional intelligence that human interactions provide

This does not imply that customers dismiss the role of artificial intelligence (AI) entirely. 

Customers recognise the efficiency and speed of AI-powered tools but emphasise their limitations in providing empathetic, personalised interactions. An overwhelming majority (7.8 out of 10) highlighted the necessity of human oversight when employing AI tools, clearly pointing to a blended approach as the most effective.

To bring these insights into practice, organisations must adopt a tiered, “best-of-both-worlds” support model:

1. AI-first for routine queries: Deploy GenAI to handle high-volume, low-complexity requests (order status, password resets, FAQs)
2. Seamless escalation to human experts: Embed frictionless hand-off protocols when AI detects frustration, ambiguity, or high emotional content
3. Continuous human oversight and training: Regularly review AI decisions and customer feedback to retrain and fine-tune models 

GenAI promises unprecedented speed and consistency in handling customer interactions. But customers’ preference for human agents in moments of complex queries is telling. 

“AI gets the job done, but people make us feel heard.” This statement highlights the potential of a blended approach. 

How brands can better listen

The task does not stop at merely understanding the channels customers prefer. Brands must understand what customers go through. The firsthand experience of dealing and interacting with the company could reveal great insights.  

One practical recommendation is to adopt the role of a “mystery shopper.” This prompts a leader to experience their own products, services, and customer service channels. The insights drawn from this experience, coupled with analytics and survey reports, could help identify bottlenecks, inefficiencies, and customer pain points from an authentic perspective. 

It’s a fundamental yet frequently overlooked task that provides brands a direct route to enhancing satisfaction through genuine empathy and understanding.

Conclusion