Are you being engaged? Employee engagement and its influence on customer satisfaction and buying behaviour (2013)

Description

Our May 2012 research into the relationship between employee engagement, customer experience and customers’ purchasing behaviour. Based on a survey of 2,000 banking, retail, insurance and utilities consumers.

In May 2012 we surveyed 2,000 consumers to find out how employee engagement and attitude influences whether customers have memorable experiences, the impact of memorable customer experiences on customers’ purchasing decisions and the extent to which customers are prepared to pay more for excellent customer service.

Conclusions

Employee engagement and attitude are key factors in determining customers’ experience. The biggest differentiators between positive and negative experiences are: seeming interested in meeting the customer?s needs, seeming helpful and seeming passionate about doing a good job. Memorable customer experiences have a decisive influence on customers’ purchasing behaviour.

Two thirds (66%) of those who had a good experience with a company have recommended the organisation to someone else. Roughly two thirds (61%) of customers with a bad experience have stopped doing business with the organisation, and more (75%) have avoided them when they have a choice. 67% have spread negative feedback by word of mouth.

One in four customers say they would pay more for excellent customer service. Many customers want a balance between price and excellent service, but a significant proportion say they would pay more ? an average of 5% ? for excellent customer service.