In the digital transformation era, the power is well and truly with the consumer. This power ranges from how they make their purchases, to their extensive evaluation criteria, to their ability to quickly and easily share their opinion. The demands on customer service would appear to be increasing as a result. For example, my local pub (I’m English, and expect to be recognised!) treats me like a long lost friend, but now I want that kind of service from my gas supplier – that recognition coupled with a personalised point of contact. When I don’t get that same service, my disapproval intensifies and I’m more than likely to voice that disapproval given the many channels available to me.

With the sheer volume of customer service horror stories floating around, it would be easy to assume that customer care and focus is declining. However with online transparency and the increasing ease with which to share your opinions, this may not actually be the case. Let’s face it, we all experience schadenfreude (pleasure from other’s misfortune) as we read a scathing review compared to a nice, safe “food was nice, staff were pleasant, might go again” review. A survey in 2013 found that while 35% of participants used online review sites to complain when they’ve had a bad experience, only 23% used the sites to talk about a positive experience.

The issue is that consumers now expect all companies they use to be at the highest standard, this means that consumers are now harder to satisfy and are quicker to complain. As markets are becoming more and more consumer led, businesses are being held accountable to consumers, rather than the other way around.

While customer service is an easily comparable factor, increasing consumer independence means that consumers are more confident in themselves to judge prices and value for money across different markets. The need to get a good deal has become more Important and there has been a decline in brand loyalty as a result. The ever-expanding digital transformation also means that switching between brands and providers has never been easier, making the relationships between customer and brand easier to break and harder to build. The rise of the budget superstores Aldi and Lidl are perfect examples. Brand image has become less important than overall company image in terms of making sales.

To say customer standards are dropping is most likely wrong. In fact, as technology and society grows, customer standards will be growing alongside them. Moreover, customer expectations of customer standards are rising faster than the rate customer standards are, causing the gap between the two to grow. The opportunity for businesses therefore is to acknowledge the gap and adapt their ways to ensure that both, from perception and reality, are ahead of the game.

Written by Alex