What Does Today’s Customer Look Like? What do They Want from Customer Experience Interactions?

Crytal Collier did a great job in the October 2024 blog post describing CX trends, and the potential initiatives that companies can launch to achieve those trends.  Today, I would like to take things in a little different direction by talking about the profile of today’s customer, and what they want from a CX interaction.

A great place to start might be to ask a very important question:  What DON’T they want?  All of us are customers, and all of us are unique, but I think we can agree on some very essential DON’Ts!:

1. I DON’T want to go through a long menu to try to find the particular option that describes my particular need!
2. I DON’T want you to force a particular channel on me, only to find out that the need I have CANNOT be handled on that channel, or it is SO difficult to handle it there that I give up and look elsewhere!
3. I DON’T want to search all over your website to find a Toll-Free number that you have hidden so well that I spend precious time trying to find it.  I KNOW that there are some things I just want to talk to a human about, and I want to be able to find that number!
4. I DON’T want to interact with something or someone that collects pertinent information from me, only to be directed to another channel that has NO IDEA of what happened in my previous interaction(s).

Bottom line, to summarize the above, I DON’T want to be screaming to myself during the interaction these words:  “WHY IS THIS SO HARD”!

I wonder very often if the people who design many customer interactions ever have to use them.  I would like to offer this simple advice:  PLEASE put yourselves in the shoes of your customers.  An effective feedback channel, including input from Contact Center agents who deal with customers all day, would be a great place to start to acquire this knowledge.

OK, now that we have explored what customers DON’T want, let’s take a look at what they DO want.  At a high level, here is a brief list in no particular order of priority:

1. Deliver on Your Promises:  A Qualtric’s 2025 Global Consumer Trends Report revealed “over 53% of bad customer experiences result in reduced spending in 2025. If your product, service, or overall experience isn’t meeting customers’ expectations, they’re not going to continue to spend their money at your establishment.”
2. Make Improvements, Even Small Ones:  That same Qualtrics report says “Moving a customer’s experience from “poor” to “okay” increases their likelihood to purchase by 1.6 times and increases their likelihood to recommend the business by 2 times.” To make improvements, you actually have to take some action.  For example:
   1. Recognize what went wrong – This is a great place to start.  You can capture some of this on those famous “quality assurance recordings”, or in real-time with speech analytics.
   2. Empower employees who work closely with customers.  What a concept.  I cannot tell you how many negative experiences I have had that were turned positive by an agent who was empowered to do something.  Those really are the most impactful experiences.
   3. Listen to employees who work closely with customers and get their feedback:  When I start an assessment with a customer, I always begin by sitting side by side with agents, and listening to their conversations with customers.  Then I have meetings with groups of them.  You want a great place to start; there you go!
3. Provide meaningful Loyalty programs That Actually Work:  OK, some loyalty programs are just lame.  You wonder why you spent the time signing up for it.  However, a well-designed program can be very effective.  A Cap Tech Consulting 2025 Consumer Innovation Survey tells us that, “Loyalty programs will become more important, with 90% of digital users enrolled in a loyalty program and 95% reporting them as influential in their shopping choices.” 
4. Provide clear communications to build our trust in your products and services.  In an article published in January of 2025 by Sam Stemler of boast, a Proof-Based Marketing Platform provider, we are told that “61% of customers cited trust and clear communication as their top priority when interacting with businesses.”  How do firms achieve this goal?  Here are a couple of suggestions:
   1. Clearly communicate how your business, product, or service works, and then tell customers how you handle or respond to certain situations.  Provide information regarding the best use cases for your product or service, and be honest about the expected results.  This will allow you to better align expectations with delivery.
   2. By all means . . . Keep customers updated (e.g., order delays, inventory status, discounts that might be coming, etc.)

Is there any customer expectation on this list that is unreasonable?  Honestly, this shouldn’t be that hard.  In future blogs, we will provide insight into how we can meet some of these expectations with the proper mix of technology and human interactions . . . but for today, let’s be content in understanding some important Do’s and Don’t’s customers of today are looking for in the customer experience. is critical, let your customers guide your way. They will help you thrive in this rapidly evolving landscape!