Customer experience to be key brand differentiator by 2020

It's hard to dispute what a great country I live in. Here in New Zealand we have some of the most fabulous scenery in the world, incredible coffee, the freshest air and friendly locals. Now according to an infographic by FinancesOnline, we can also claim to have the best customer service satisfaction in the world, too.

With a 92% customer service satisfaction rating, New Zealand beat out Canada (90%), Norway (90%) and Australia (89%) to top the rankings in the first quarter of 2014, according to FinancesOnline. The U.K. didn't make the top 10 and the U.S. just about snuck in in 15th place (82%).

Customer service satisfaction is set to play an increasingly important role in overall customer experience in years to come. According to customer intelligence consulting firm, Walker, customer experience will overtake price and product as a key brand differentiator by 2020.

Currently, 86% of consumers are prepared to pay more for better customer service and 70% judge buying experiences in terms of how they were treated. Even customers with complaints will do business with a company again if that issue is resolved to their satisfaction, and that customer retention can do wonders decreasing costs.

Despite the U.S. languishing down in 15th place, there is good news, says Alex Hillsberg, with North America and Western Europe leading the way in CRM adoption.

Image via Shutterstock

Tags: customer relationship management, customer service, infographic