Nearly three-quarters of consumers say resolving their issues takes as much or more effort than it did a year ago, and 86 per cent say they’ll leave a brand if dealing with it takes too much work, according to research published by Netcracker/CSG.
The Denver, Col.-based software provider commissioned a survey of more than 1,800 people over the summer to produce its 2027 State of Customer Experience report.
Netcracker/CSG found 81 per cent of consumers believe automated support takes longer than traditional processes involving service reps. AI has not necessarily enhanced automated support experiences: 40 per cent say it’s difficult to get chatbots to understand what they need.
On the flip side, 44 per cent of those surveyed say they’ve stayed loyal to a brand based on effective automated support, suggesting technology still has the potential to streamline areas like customer service.
“To keep up with market demands, brands kept adding channels, security steps, and self-service options. Each addition made sense on its own. Together, they created a maze,” the report’s authors wrote. “Many organizations can’t see the full maze because each team sees only its part. But any brand that wants to compete on CX in 2027 will need to guide their customers through it.”
360 Magazine Insight
Netcracker/CSG’s research adds further proof that there’s a huge disconnect between the way brands perceive automated support and the emotional impact of customers.
For example, 60 per cent of consumers said being routed to a chatbot feels like a brand doesn’t care about them, and 57 per cent said it’s becoming harder to talk to a live representative.
Part of the issue could be that brands’ automated support options lack the sophistication of organizations focused solely on technology. For example, 77 per cent said they had turned to “third party” AI assistants, and one in four do so most or all of the time. Why bother going back and forth with a retailer’s clunky, error-prone chatbot when you can try your luck with ChatGPT?
The report has coined the term “effort inflation” as a way to think about the degree to which customers encounter experiences as a burden instead of a convenient pleasure. It wouldn’t be a bad idea for brands to use effort inflation as a way to assess themselves as they develop and test additional improvements to their customer experience (CX).
This gated 31-page report has some interesting demographic breakdowns on the data, and doesn’t limit itself to merely presenting statistics. It’s worth looking towards the end to a four-part strategic guide to reducing effort inflation, which touches on personalization, customer journeys and more.