Genesys Survey Finds Nearly 50% of Consumers Feel Companies Lack Empathy When Delivering Customer Service

SAN FRANCISCO, May 20, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- It's a more efficient but somewhat impersonal world when it comes to customer service, according to a new survey sponsored by Genesys®, the global leader in cloud customer experience and contact center solutions. Genesys gauged the sentiments of 5,000 adults in six countries: Australia, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, the United Kingdom (U.K.) and the United States (U.S.). While a majority (71%) believe that customer service has become more personalized in the last five years through the use of technology, nearly half (48%) still note a distinct lack of compassion in their treatment.

While many consumers say customer service experiences have become more personalized, others say they haven't reached their full potential—showing an opportunity for companies to truly stand out. Just 21% say their customer service experiences have become "much more" personalized. Fully half of those surveyed (50%) say their experiences are only "somewhat more" personalized, leaving a lot of room for improvement.

Despite the perceived increase in personalization when contacting a company to resolve a support issue, just over half (52%) of survey respondents feel they're shown empathy when they need help. What's worse, participants sense this lack of commiseration from companies with which they regularly do business.

"Businesses that recognize the inextricable link between empathy and truly personalized experiences hold the key to establishing customer trust and long-term loyalty – especially as we navigate the longer-term impacts of COVID-19," said Merijn te Booij, chief marketing officer at Genesys. "With Experience as a Service^SM, we're helping organizations leverage cloud and artificial intelligence technologies to individualize the service they deliver while showing customers they're truly heard and understood."

Knowing Customers is Key
Younger consumers especially recognize the benefits of personalization. They know what they want, how they want it and when, and are more willing to share personal details to get it. A full three-quarters of Millennials (76%) and Gen Zers (76%) in the survey say customer service experiences have become more personalized in the last five years, compared to 69% of Gen Xers and 66% of Boomers.

Consumers of varying ages expect different levels of empathy, with older generations wanting more understanding from organizations. While most Gen Zers (63%) believe businesses work to resolve issues with empathy, only half of Gen Xers (50%) and even fewer Boomers (47%) feel the same.

Perhaps because they're more accustomed to exercising patience, parents seem a bit more likely to hear empathy from customer service representatives. More than three in five parents (61%) say companies show empathy when resolving an issue, significantly more than their child-free peers (48%).

Location, location, location
The Genesys survey data also shows that the degree to which consumers recognize personalized service varies depending where they live. While consumers in Germany (77%) and the U.K. (75%) are the most likely to say that customer service has become more personalized in the past five years, a full third of those in Japan (34%) and New Zealand (33%) think service has become less personalized.

U.S. respondents were the most likely to say they experience empathy from their service providers (58%). It's the reverse in Germany (47%) and Japan (40%), where less than half said the businesses they deal with feel their pain.

Rather surprisingly, city dwellers (58%) are considerably more satisfied with the level of empathy they receive than participants in the suburbs and rural areas (both at 49%). Perhaps the pace of city life leaves less time for pleasantries, so the empathy bar is lower?

Below are some additional highlights from the survey conducted in the U.S.:

• Similar to the global results, 70% of U.S. respondents believe customer service has become more personalized in the last five years. However, 29% see a "much more" personalized experience, versus the 41% who notice "somewhat more" personalization.
• 62% of rural U.S. participants notice increased personalization through technology compared to 71% in suburban and 74% in urban areas.
• Older folks expect more understanding from the companies with whom they do business. When it comes to gauging empathy, Gen Xers (63%), Millennials (62%) and Gen Zers (61%) are similar in their outlook, while Boomers at 51% drag down the U.S. average.
• Two-thirds of U.S. survey participants who have children (67%) see companies as empathetic, compared to just 54% of singletons.

Press and analysts may request a copy of each country's survey findings from the Genesys media relations team. For the U.S., contact [email protected].

Research Methodology:
The online survey was conducted by Wakefield Research in early April 2020. Participants were 5,000 adults ages 18+, balanced by gender, in the following markets: 1,000 in the U.S., and 800 each in Australia, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, and the U.K. The margin of error for the multi-country audience is +/- 1.4 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.

About Genesys
Every year, Genesys® delivers more than 70 billion remarkable customer experiences for organizations in over 100 countries. Through the power of the cloud and AI, our technology connects every customer moment across marketing, sales and service on any channel, while also improving employee experiences. Genesys pioneered Experience as a Service^SM so organizations of any size can provide true personalization at scale, interact with empathy, and foster customer trust and loyalty. This is enabled by Genesys Cloud^TM, an all-in-one solution and the world's leading public cloud contact center platform, designed for rapid innovation, scalability and flexibility. Visit www.genesys.com.

©2020 Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories, Inc. All rights reserved. Genesys, Genesys Cloud, Experience as a Service, and the Genesys logo are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Genesys. All other company names and logos may be registered trademarks or trademarks of their respective companies. 

Contacts
Shaunna Morgan
Senior Public Relations Manager
Genesys
[email protected]
+1 317-493-4241

Adriana Saldaña
Sterling Communications
[email protected]
+1 408-395-5500

SOURCE Genesys

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