It’s no secret that a customer-centric business is a successful business. Yet some of the statistics I’m sharing with you here tell a story of frustration and alienation amongst many customers who say they often feel like stuck records and are missing the personal touch.

What your customers and industry experts think

1. Your customers’ experiences will dictate your business success

• In 2016, 89 per cent of businesses will compete mainly on customer experience compared to 36 per cent four years ago. (Source: Gartner)
• 92 per cent of organisations that consider customer experience as a differentiator offer multiple contact channels. (Source: Deloitte)

2. Your customers are just not that into you

• By 2020, the customer will manage 85 per cent of its relationship with an enterprise without interacting with a human. (Source: Gartner)
• 89 per cent of customers switched brands once or twice in the last year. (Source: NewVoice)

3. Your customers feel like stuck records

• 80 per cent of customers say that companies do not have the context of their last conversation. (Source: Marketwatch)
• 56 per cent of customers have to re-explain an issue when speaking to customer service. (Source: Harvard Business Review)

4. Social media: this time it’s personal

• When companies engage and respond to customer service requests over social media, those customers spend from 20 to 40 per cent more money with the company than other customers do. (Source: Bain)

5. You get no second chances

• 78 per cent of consumers have bailed on a transaction or not made an intended purchase because of a poor service experience. (Source: American Express)

6. Help your customers help themselves

• 83 per cent of online shoppers need support to complete a purchase. (Source: eConsultancy)

7. Smart customer service is mobile

• 75 per cent of consumers think companies should make answers to all their common questions available via smartphones. (Source: Synthetix)

So how does a business build or maintain a personal touch in this brave new world where we all rely so heavily on technology? How can we use technology to our advantage to help support our customer service goals?

Find out how Office 365 can help you build more profitable customer relationships through more engaging communications in this 15-minute webinar video from Microsoft: “How to connect with your customers.”

If you need support or consultancy in choosing, migrating, deploying or managing Microsoft Office 365 cloud technology, feel free to review our support suite options for business users and IT administrators.