[SURVEY] What place does the human touch have in customer relations in the digital age?

The results of numerous studies converge towards the same postulate: the majority of French people prefer human interaction to virtual interaction during their purchasing journey.

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

But does digitalization necessarily mean dehumanization?

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

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

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

Discover the results!

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Profile of respondents

You work in :

What is your business sector?

You practice :

The current state of customer relations in France

The growing digitalization of French companies

How is your company positioned in terms of digitalizing customer relations?

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

It's clear that the trend is well underway:

• 42.08% say they are in the process of digital customer transformation,
• 31.19% have completely digitized their customer relations.

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

But which companies are fully embracing the new technologies, and which prefer to go "old school"? One answer lies in the size of the companies in question.

How is your company positioned in terms of the digitalization of 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 digital business transformation. All show that French VSEs are lagging behind in this area. Problems adapting teams and processes, budgetary constraints... the fact remains that the issue of customer relations is no exception to the rule.

On the other hand, are there differences depending on the type of business?

• For BtoB :
  • 29.17% of respondents have little or no digitalization of customer relations;
  • 45.83% are in the process of digital transformation;
  • 25% have completely digitized their customer relations;
• For BtoC:
  • 25.89% of respondents have little or no digitalization of customer relations;
  • 43.75% are in the process of digital transformation;
  • 30.36% have completely digitized their customer relations.

If we are used to thinking that business to business traditionally implies a stronger relationship of proximity (as opposed to mass commerce, which has seen the development of digital uses as a priority), our figures don't reveal such a large discrepancy. Market trends and the demands of BtoB customers, accustomed to a certain autonomy in the digital space, are increasingly encouraging companies in all sectors to realize 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%),
• e-mail (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 digitalization of the companies surveyed means that we have to qualify our comments. Among the greatest disparities, we note :

• the website: 74.12% of companies undergoing digital transformation, and 84.13% of fully digitized organizations, use it to manage their customer relations (compared with 53.70% of companies with little or no digitalization);
• the same goes for e-mail, with 62.35% and 61.90% respectively adopting it (versus 44.44%);
• or chatbots, which the most digitalized companies use at 12.70% (versus 5.56% for the least digitalized), or mobile applications (25.40% versus 5.56%).

What tools does your company use to manage customer relations?

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

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

We might also wonder about the "low" adoption of CRM, a customer relations tool par excellence, for which we don't see any major contrasts depending on the company:

• 27.78% for organizations with a low level of digitalization,
• 25.88% for organizations in the process of digital transformation,
• 25.40% for fully digitized organizations.

On the other hand, we note a more notable divide for marketing automation solutions: 26.98% of the most digitalized companies use them, versus 9.26% of those who have not fully embraced the new technologies.

Digitizing customer relations: good or bad?

What is the concrete impact on business?

What impact does the degree of digitalization have on customer acquisition rates?

What about customer loyalty?

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

It's above all those organizations that have initiated or fully embraced digital transformation that are seeing clearer impacts... and above all, positive ones!

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

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

So, are new technologies a boon for consumers? More attentiveness, personalization, responsiveness... what are the concrete benefits?

The benefits of digitalizing customer relations

What are the advantages of digitizing customer relations?

While the digitization of customer relations generates 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% note time savings in the execution of their missions;
• 48.02% save money.

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

It's clear that saving time and money is still a top priority for companies, particularly in the face of ever-increasing competitive pressure.

However, in view of the positive impact of a digitalization strategy on customer acquisition and loyalty, we can see that companies' constraints are not incompatible with a customer-centric approach.

For example, saving time on low value-added tasks means devoting more effort to important issues, customer knowledge, understanding their new buying behaviors, etc.

☝️ It's worth noting that 14.81% of the least digitized companies see no particular benefit in adopting these digital uses (compared with 2.35% for companies in the process of digital transformation, and 3.17% for 100% digitized organizations). This may be indicative of a form of resistance to change on the part of professionals unfamiliar with new technologies, and unaware of the benefits they bring.

The disadvantages of digitizing customer relations

What are the disadvantages of digitizing customer relations?

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

This is followed by :

• lower-quality answers and information (34.16%),
• uncomfortable teams using 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 digitalization, the question of the place of the human element remains central. And with good reason: according to a 2018 study by Pegasystems, 72% of French people say they prefer human interaction to the virtual during their purchasing journey.

What's more, we note that organizations with little or no digital transformation are more likely than others to deplore the distribution of poorer-quality information (42.59% versus 17.46% of the most digitalized 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 in the process of digital transformation claim that teams are not very comfortable with digital tools (versus 16.67% for companies with little digitalization);
• 22.22% of respondents working in a fully digitized organization complain of a heavier work load (versus 12.96% in companies with a low level of digitization).

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

For your company, humanizing customer relations :

For the companies of the majority of our respondents (60.89%), regardless of their degree of digitalization, humanizing customer relations must be an absolute priority.

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

This reality, which extends right down to our consumer preferences, forces organizations to adopt certain practices to satisfy this need for human interaction.

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 salesperson, 7 days a week, 24 hours a day, or in dedicated slots. Conversely, only 5.94% have automated everything, via a chatbot for example.

The digitalization of customer relations doesn't seem to be sounding the death knell for direct contact.

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

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

For our respondents, multi-channel marketing is the most popular strategy. If well executed, such an approach allows customers to feel valued, since 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 the consumer via all points of contact, and with consistent quality. Physical sales outlets, social networks, blogs, FAQs... the companies we surveyed are well aware of this new challenge...

... but you still need to know what the customer really wants? 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 working on brand image is a strategy adopted by 32.67%. This is hardly surprising, considering that today, a successful customer experience is largely based on perceived positive emotions.These emotions are largely conveyed through a strong, impactful brand image, which tends to create that close bond sought by consumers.

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

The digitization of customer relations seems to be well under way... and above all inevitable in the face of increasing 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 key to successful digitalized customer relations lies in 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 favor of performing low value-added tasks.

After all, customers are becoming increasingly autonomous in their purchasing journey. In today's hyper-connected, instantaneous society, machines provide the answer to consumers' need for immediacy... where humans remain fallible. The latter's missions are therefore more about 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.