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[SURVEY] What role do people play in customer relations in the digital age?

[SURVEY] What role do people play in customer relations in the digital age?

By Jennifer Montérémal

Published: 27 October 2024

The results of a number of studies point to the same conclusion: the majority of French people prefer human interaction to virtual interaction during their purchasing process.

And yet, often for economic reasons, companies are increasingly tending to digitalise their customer relations.

But does digitalisation necessarily mean dehumanisation?

As society undergoes a digital transformation, what new customer relations practices are developing?

Does this new paradigm have positive or negative consequences for business?

Appvizer surveyed a panel of 202 customer service, marketing and business development professionals to establish the current state of the art in the digital age and the race for performance.

Here are the results!

Profile of respondents

You work in :

What is your business sector?

You work in :

The current state of customer relations in France

The increasing digitalisation of French companies

How is your company positioning itself in terms of digitalising customer relations?

At a time when the digital transformation of society has become inescapable, and new technologies are playing an increasingly important role in all aspects of our lives, how are French companies positioning themselves in terms of customer relations?

It has to be said that the trend seems to be well underway, with :

  • 42.08% of companies say they are in the process of transforming their digital customer relationships,
  • 31.19% have completely digitised their customer relations.

In the end, organisations with a low level of digitisation are still in the minority (26.73%).

But who are these companies that are fully embracing the new technologies, or those that prefer to go "old school"? One answer lies in the size of the companies in question.

How is your company positioned when it comes to digitalising customer relations?

In the end, these figures are in line with other surveys, such as OpinionWay's 2019 study or Appvizer's 2020 barometer of the digital transformation of businesses. They all show that French VSEs are lagging behind in this area. Problems with adapting teams and processes, budgetary constraints... the fact remains that the issue of customer relations is no exception to the rule.

Are there any differences depending on the type of business?

  • For B2B :
    • 29.17% of respondents have done little or nothing to digitise their customer relations;
    • 45.83% are in the process of digital transformation;
    • 25% have completely digitised their customer relations;
  • For BtoC :
    • 25.89% of respondents have not digitised their customer relations, or have done so only to a limited extent;
    • 43.75% are in the process of digital transformation;
    • 30.36% have completely digitised their customer relations.

Although we are used to thinking that business to business traditionally involves a closer relationship (unlike mass retail, which has seen the development of digital uses as a priority), our figures do not reveal such a significant gap. Changes in the market and the demands of BtoB customers, who are used to a certain degree of autonomy in the digital space, are increasingly encouraging companies in all sectors to realise the urgency of going digital.

Customer relations tools

What channels does your company use to interact with its customers?

The website remains the preferred channel, with 71.78% of respondents, followed by :

  • telephone (64.85%),
  • email (57.43%),
  • physical point of sale (49.50%),
  • and social networks (42.57%).

In last place are chatbots (7.43%) and dynamic FAQs (5.45%).

However, the degree of digitalisation of the companies surveyed forces us to qualify our comments. Among the greatest disparities, we note :

  • the website: 74.12% of companies undergoing digital transformation, and 84.13% of fully digitised organisations use it to manage their customer relations (compared with 53.70% of companies with little or no digital capability);
  • the same goes for email, where 62.35% and 61.90% of companies respectively have adopted it (compared with 44.44%);
  • or chatbots, which 12.70% of the most digitalised companies use (compared with 5.56% of the least digitalised), or mobile applications (25.40% compared with 5.56%).

What tools does your company use to manage customer relations?

When it comes to software, customer service or helpdesk tools are the most popular with 44.06% of participants.

Corporate telephony solutions (26.73%), CRM (26.24%) and emailing tools (25.25%) are used much less frequently.

We might also wonder about the 'low' adoption of CRM, the customer relations tool par excellence, where there are no major differences between companies:

  • 27.78% for organisations with a low level of digitisation,
  • 25.88% for organisations in the process of digital transformation,
  • 25.40% for fully digitised organisations.

On the other hand, there is a more marked divide when it comes to marketing automation solutions: 26.98% of the most digitalised companies use them, compared with 9.26% of those that have not fully embraced the new technologies.

Digitalising customer relations: a good thing or a bad thing?

What is the real impact on business?

What impact does the degree of digitalisation have on the customer acquisition rate?

What about customer loyalty?

Despite the fact that some companies are lagging behind, the majority are increasingly modernising their customer relations practices. But are these new strategies having a tangible impact on business development?

It is above all those organisations that have initiated or fully embraced digital transformation that are seeing a clearer - and above all positive - impact!

  • for companies in the process of digital transformation:
    • 58.82% said that the use of new technologies had a positive impact on the customer acquisition rate;
    • and 71.76% on customer loyalty;
  • for companies that are 100% digital, these figures are 66.67% and 84.13% respectively.

For the professionals surveyed, the digitalisation of customer relations and business benefits seem to go hand in hand. And this is all the more true when it comes to building customer loyalty, where good customer relations are an essential component.

So could new technologies be a godsend for consumers? More attentiveness, personalisation, responsiveness... what are the concrete benefits?

The benefits of digitalising customer relations

What are the advantages of digitalising customer relations?

While the digitisation of customer relations has positive consequences for business development, it should be noted that the advantages perceived by our respondents are first and foremost benefits for the company:

  • 62.87% of them noted time savings in the performance of their tasks;
  • 48.02% save money.

A benefit for the customer only comes in third place (45.54% save time for the customer).

It has to be said that saving time and money is still the top priority for companies, particularly in the face of ever-increasing competitive pressure.

However, given the positive impact of a digital strategy on customer acquisition and loyalty, it is clear that the constraints faced by companies are not incompatible with a customer-centric approach.

For example, saving time on low added-value tasks means devoting more effort to important issues, getting to know customers, understanding their new buying behaviours, and so on.

☝️ It should be noted that 14.81% of the least digitised companies see no particular advantage in adopting these digital uses (compared with 2.35% of companies in the process of digital transformation, and 3.17% of 100% digitised organisations). This may be indicative of a form of resistance to change on the part of professionals who are unfamiliar with the new technologies and unaware of the benefits they bring.

The disadvantages of digitalising customer relations

What are the disadvantages of digitalising customer relations?

For French companies, the risk of dehumanisation tops the list of disadvantages, for 44.55% of respondents.

This is followed by :

  • the delivery of poorer quality responses and information (34.16%),
  • teams not very comfortable with digital tools (21.78%),
  • longer response times for customers (20.79%),
  • a lack of transparency regarding the use of customer data (20.79%).

While, as we have seen, companies are fairly satisfied with the business benefits of digitisation, the question of the place of the human element remains central. And with good reason: according to a study carried out by Pegasystems in 2018, 72% of French people say they prefer human interaction to virtual interaction during their purchasing journey.

What's more, we find that organisations that have made little or no start on their digital transformation are more likely than others to complain about the poorer quality of the information they distribute (42.59% compared with 17.46% of the most digitalised companies).

Finally, for companies that are more accustomed to digital technology, other issues are emerging, more related to the use of new technologies themselves:

  • 25.88% of professionals working in companies undergoing a digital transformation say that their teams are not very comfortable with digital tools (compared with 16.67% for companies with a low level of digitalisation);
  • 22.22% of respondents working in a fully digitised organisation regretted a heavier work load (compared with 12.96% of companies with a low level of digitisation).

Digitalising customer relations: where does the human element fit in?

For your company, humanising customer relations :

For the majority of our respondents (60.89%), whatever their degree of digitalisation, humanising customer relations must be an absolute priority.

In fact, on a personal level, 50% of those questioned said they would prefer to deal with a human being for the slightest question, and 40.59% at least for important questions and complaints.

This reality, which is reflected even in our consumer preferences, is forcing organisations to use certain practices to satisfy this need to interact with humans.

Can your customers make direct contact with your company?

This is why, despite the growing digital transformation, 82.67% of companies allow their customers to speak to an advisor or sales representative, 7 days a week, 24 hours a day, or during dedicated time slots. By contrast, only 5.94% have automated everything, using a chatbot for example.

The digitalisation of customer relations does not therefore seem to be sounding the death knell for direct contact.

However, does this human touch always mean being able to talk to an employee? Outside direct contact, companies are deploying other methods to humanise customer relations.

Outside direct contact, how does your company humanise its customer relations?

For our respondents, multi-channel marketing is the most popular strategy. If well executed, this approach allows customers to feel valued, as they obtain the right level of information depending on where they are in their purchasing journey.

Today, customer relations are omnichannel. This means "talking" to consumers via all points of contact, and with consistent quality. Physical sales outlets, social networks, blogs, FAQs... our respondents' companies are well aware of this new challenge...

... but you still need to know what customers really want? We know that the channels they prefer depend on a number of factors, such as generational factors:

Breakdown of different contact methods by customer age group :

This is undoubtedly why 35.64% of companies consider that increasing customer knowledge through data collection is a good lever to use in a customer-centric approach.

Finally, we note that 32.67% of companies have adopted a strategy based on improving their brand image. This is hardly surprising, given that today a successful customer experience is largely based on perceived positive emotions, emotions that are largely conveyed through the brand.These emotions are largely conveyed through a strong, impactful brand image, which tends to create the close ties that consumers are looking for.

Customer relations and digitalisation: it's all a question of dosage

The digitalisation of customer relations seems to be well under way... and above all inevitable in the face of increased demands for performance and productivity.

However, it does not appear to be totally incompatible with the closeness and humanity that consumers still overwhelmingly desire.

The deployment of a digitalised, high-performance customer relationship depends on the right mix of human and machine. In fact, when asked "What role should software and new technologies play in customer relations?"the majority of respondents (44.06%) were in favour of carrying out low added-value tasks.

After all, customers are increasingly autonomous in their purchasing journey. In today's hyper-connected, instantaneous society, machines provide a response to consumers' need for immediacy... where humans remain fallible. The latter's missions therefore revolve more around issues of quality than quantity.

It's up to companies to find the right compromise to preserve that extra touch of soul in their customer relations, while meeting the challenges of this new digital world.

Article translated from French