06/02/2025
Only one in three CX leaders surveyed in ANZ believe their organisations are delivering extremely personalised customer service, even as consumers increasingly expect fast, effective and tailored experiences.
New research from Genesys®, a global cloud leader in AI-Powered Experience Orchestration, reveals a disconnect between what consumers in Australia and New Zealand (ANZ) value most in their customer journeys and what brands believe they are delivering.
The findings come from the fourth edition of “The State of Customer Experience in Asia-Pacific” report, which surveyed more than 5,000 consumers and nearly 1,200 customer experience (CX) decision makers globally, featuring key insights from ANZ.
The report reveals a clear expectation from ANZ consumers: make the experience personal, accurate, and get it right the first time. Among ANZ respondents, first-contact resolution was ranked as the most valuable attribute in a customer service interaction, cited by 53% — well above the global average (48%) — and ahead of the need for fast response (43%), the next-highest ranked attribute.
While only 42% of ANZ consumers surveyed value proactive service as a top form of personalisation, the lowest across APAC, a striking 64% highly value when preferred brands know their account history and current activities, the highest in the region. This suggests that while ANZ consumers want personalised service, they don’t expect or necessarily highly value when brands predict their needs and reach out preemptively. Instead, they expect brands to recognise them immediately and resolve their issues efficiently when they initiate contact.
However, less than a third (30%) of CX leaders surveyed in ANZ believe their organisations are extremely effective in their knowledge of consumer accounts and history to deliver more personalised experiences. Furthermore, just 20% of those CX leaders in ANZ believe their organisations are extremely effective at ease of multi-channel support (e.g., communicating across social channels, chat, phone, etc.) within a customer service interaction.
“There’s a clear gap between what consumers in ANZ expect and what businesses believe their customer service teams can deliver,” said Mark Buckley, Vice President, Australia and New Zealand, Genesys. “This is important, especially when our research shows 35% of ANZ consumers surveyed report having stopped doing business with a company because of a bad customer service experience within the past year, and 39% having recommended a company after receiving a positive customer service experience in that same period.”
Against that backdrop, it is clear that personalisation in customer engagements is a key point of differentiation for businesses in ANZ. Consumers in ANZ consistently say they value personalised experiences and the ability to move between channels. Yet only a third (33%) of ANZ CX leaders surveyed believe they are delivering extremely personalised customer service experiences, compared to 42% of respondents globally. This is a stark reminder to companies that personalisation is vital, especially given that 83% of ANZ consumers surveyed agree with the statement that “a company is only as good as its service,” compared to 76% as an average across APAC, showcasing the exacting expectations of consumers in ANZ.
While over half (54%) of ANZ consumers surveyed say waiting five minutes or more on hold is unacceptable, many still face significantly longer wait times. Alarmingly, one in ten ANZ consumers surveyed report waiting 90 minutes or more to reach a service representative, more than double the global and regional averages. This stark gap underscores the urgency for organisations in the region to modernise their customer engagement strategies.
The top internal issues cited among ANZ-based CX leaders surveyed as impacting their ability to deliver a seamless customer journey includes siloed departments with separate customer engagement solutions (33%), a lack of consolidated/shared data (33%) and a lack of carry-over of customer context from one channel to another (30%).
Consumers Believe AI Will Enhance Customer Experiences
Technology stands to play a key role in helping CX leaders circumvent such challenges. Globally, nearly two-thirds (64%) of consumers surveyed believe AI will improve the quality and speed of customer experience over the next two to three years, underscoring the potential game-changing value of AI-powered CX technology for CX teams as they evolve to meet and exceed consumer needs.
However, only 30% of ANZ CX leaders surveyed said their business plans to implement a customer experience platform that integrates systems within the next two years — significantly lower than the 44% of respondents both globally and across the broader APAC region.
In that context, it should come as little surprise that ANZ lags behind the rest of the region in the percentage of expected CX budget businesses plan to spend on AI-powered CX technologies in the next 12 months, with ANZ respondents citing 16% compared to 33% across APAC and globally.
“For organisations looking to close the gap between the experiences they’re delivering today and the services that consumers want, a technology-based platform approach and the integration of AI into their CX strategies can represent a clear path forward,” said Buckley. “When it comes to giving consumers what they want, a strategic technology-based approach can enable experience orchestration, crafting the ideal end-to-end journey for each customer.”
This year’s report also highlights several key trends for CX organisations to watch:
The optimal engagement channels: In ANZ, 58% of consumers surveyed said email was among the customer service channels they most preferred, more than any other APAC region, while 62% cited live agent via phone as a top preferred channel. Indeed, over half (53%) of consumers surveyed in Asia Pacific cite interacting with a live agent via phone as one of their most-preferred channels.
Empathic engagement can win over consumers: Among ANZ consumers surveyed, 79% cite CX teams who listen to them and understand what they’re trying to achieve as among the most valuable attributes when interacting with a preferred brand, more than the global average and nearly every other country in APAC, with the exception of South Korea. Likewise, 31% of ANZ consumers cite listening, understanding and empathy as the attributes they value in a customer service interaction.
Just a handful of chances to get it right: Nearly 60% of ANZ consumers surveyed said they would switch from a favourite brand to another business after 2-5 bad experiences, compared to 53% globally, meaning CX teams need to get it right early on in the engagement process.
The value of fixing common service issues: Nearly a quarter (23%) of ANZ consumers surveyed cited repeatedly encountering the same minor or annoying issues during service interactions as a top reason for switching to a competitor — underscoring how small, unresolved issues can compound and quickly erode loyalty.
To learn more about the insights, read the full report here.
Methodology: Genesys worked with an independent research firm to survey 5,232 consumers and 1,181 CX decision-makers in more than 16 countries, including 1,011 consumers and 244 CX leaders in Asia-Pacific, and 173 consumers and 40 CX leaders in Australia/New Zealand. The survey was conducted in September and October of 2024.
About Genesys
Genesys empowers more than 8,000 organisations in over 100 countries to improve loyalty and business outcomes by creating the best experiences for their customers and employees. Through Genesys Cloud™, the AI-Powered Experience Orchestration platform, Genesys delivers the future of CX to organisations of all sizes so they can provide empathetic, personalised experience at scale. As the trusted platform that is born in the cloud, Genesys Cloud helps organisations accelerate growth by enabling them to differentiate with the right customer experience at the right time, while driving stronger workforce engagement, efficiency and operational improvements. Visit https://www.genesys.com/en-sg.
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Media Contact
Manali Pattnaik
Director APAC Communications, Genesys
manali.pattnaik@genesys.com
+65-83217924
