RightNow Study Reveals Empowered Consumers Have Sky-High Expectations When it Comes to Customer Experience

The fourth annual Customer Experience Impact (CEI) Report, a Harris Interactive study sponsored by RightNow® (NASDAQ:RNOW), found that consumer expectations are high and delivering great customer experiences is critical. In fact, 86 percent of consumers have stopped doing business with an organization after a bad customer experience, up 27 percent from four years ago.

Click here to read the entire 2009 CEI Report.

Today’s Consumers are Empowered

The 2009 CEI report also showed that if consumer’s expectations aren’t met, they have multiple avenues to express their dissatisfaction and with social tools at their disposal, the repercussions of this can be enormous:

• 82 percent of consumers indicated they would tell others about a bad experience – up from 67 percent in 2006.
• Many consumers that had a bad experience shared their experience online by posting a negative customer review on the company’s website (23%), Facebook (7%), or a blog (6%).

Opportunities to Engage with Consumers

In addition, the 2009 CEI report identified several opportunities for consumer focused organizations to engage with customers, deliver better experiences and drive revenue:

• Consumers that are online want an interactive website experience that allows them to quickly and easily find the information they need; 62 percent of consumers go to a company website to find information if they are having a problem.
• If consumers can’t find what they need online, they want the option to engage with a live person; 73 percent of consumers prefer to speak directly to a live customer service agent.
• Organizations can even tap into the power of the social web to ensure superior customer experiences. For example, online consumers are looking for service and support on Twitter. 58 percent said if they had complained about a bad experience with a company on a social networking site, such as Twitter, they would like the company to reach out directly and respond to their comment.

“This year’s report makes it clear— consumer expectations are high and they demand a great experience to accompany every interaction. Businesses now have an opportunity to focus on consistently delivering excellent experiences to customers, not just trying to manage them.”

Greg Gianforte

CEO and founder of RightNow

Survey Methodology

This Customer Experience Impact Report was conducted online within the United States by Harris Interactive on behalf of RightNow Technologies between September 7-11, 2009 among 2,112 general population adults age 18 years or older. Results were weighted as needed for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region and household income. Propensity score weighting was also used to adjust for respondents’ propensity to be online.

About Harris Interactive

Harris Interactive is the 13th largest and one of the fastest-growing market research firms in the world. The company provides innovative research, insights and strategic advice to help its clients make more confident decisions which lead to measurable and enduring improvements in performance. Harris Interactive is widely known for The Harris Poll, one of the longest running, independent opinion polls and for pioneering online market research methods. The company has built what it believes to be the world’s largest panel of survey respondents, the Harris Poll Online. Harris Interactive serves clients worldwide through its North American, European and Asian offices, and through a global network of independent market research firms. More information about Harris Interactive may be obtained at www.harrisinteractive.com.

To become a member of the Harris Poll Online and be invited to participate in online surveys, register at www.harrispollonline.com.

About RightNow

RightNow is helping rid the world of bad experiences one consumer interaction at a time, seven million times a day. RightNow CX, the customer experience suite, helps organizations deliver exceptional customer experiences across the web, social networks and contact centers, all delivered via the cloud. With more than eight billion customer interactions delivered, RightNow is the customer experience fabric for nearly 2000 organizations around the globe. To learn more about RightNow, go to www.rightnow.com.

RightNow is a registered trademark of RightNow Technologies, Inc. NASDAQ is a registered trademark of the NASDAQ Stock Market.