As we have discussed before, there are many factors that affect whether a shopper receives a good customer experience — and whether a shopper completes a purchase or becomes loyal to the company.
Take a look at the wide-ranging data in this infographic — some rather surprising — by Client Heartbeat.
We know that there have been incidents of stolen data around the world. These are involuntary hacks of our personal information. So, how do we feel about voluntarily sharing our information with companies? Many of us are rather reluctant to share more personal data due to concerns about identity theft, access to private information, and more.
“A Pew Research Center report published in January 2017 found that only 14% of US consumers felt ‘very confident’ about entrusting companies/retailers with their data. Almost the exact same number said they were not at all confident.”
Temkin (a customer experience research and consulting company) regularly conducts a number of surveys on customer perceptions of companies based on polls of 10,000 U.S. consumers across a number of industries. For 2017, people were asked about 331 companies across 20 industries. These surveys are then placed into overall and industry rankings.
Click on the links to access specific rankings:
These are the 20 industries encompassed in the Temkin ratings: Airlines, Auto Dealers, Banks, Computers & Tablets, Credit Cards, Fast Food, Health Plans, Hotels & Rooms, Insurance, Investments, Parcel Delivery, Rental Cars & Transport, Retailers, Software Firms, Streaming Media, Supermarkets, TV & Appliances, TV/Internet Service, Utilities, Wireless Carriers.
Consumer trust is important if companies and industries are to succeed, certainly in the long run. For example, see “Are You Vigilant in Protecting Your Reputation?”, “Don’ts for Businesses Using Social Media”, and “Americans Don’t Trust Mass Media” .
“Brand trust seems to matter more than ever, though it may be harder than ever to build that trust. SheSpeaks and Womenkind recently conducted a study to find out how women in the U.S. think about trust and loyalty when it comes to brands. The study found that most women are skeptical of advertising. Nearly three in four U.S. female Internet users polled said they trust advertising ‘very little’ or ‘not at all,’ while just one in five said they trust it ‘somewhat’ or ‘a lot.'”
“Women also distrust certain industries, though some fare better than others. When asked about which industries they trust — or don’t trust — survey respondents were most likely to deem companies in the packaged goods, nonprofit, technology, and beauty and personal care industries as the most trustworthy. In contrast, women said they trusted companies in the financial services, automotive, and healthcare industries ‘very little’ or ‘not at all.'”
It is somewhat surprising that nonprofits are not trusted substantially more than for-profit packaged goods companies and technology firms. And the financial services, auto, and healthcare industries need to work harder to gain consumer trust.
As we get closer and closer to the commercial launch of autonomous (self-driving) cars, one key factor has not been addressed enough: What is an autonomous car — because one type of car does not fit all? The answer is not simply “a car that takes over all/most driving functions for you.” The possible configurations of cars complicates things for both manufacturers and potential customers!
Here is a very good list of the types of autonomous driving experiences, from Lauren Flanigan (writing for The American Genius) that are ahead. Which type is best for YOU?
“From self-parking to collision avoidance, there are an array of different features that will be made available to consumers. But before you start saving for your next dream, take a look at which kind is best for you and your futuristic needs.”
Level 0 (zero automation) — “Your car is most likely a zero automation car. A human driver is required to operate and fully control the vehicle.”
Level 1 (driver assisted/function specific) — “These cars are for those who don’t trust automobiles with their lives. They still require a driver to operate the vehicle, but act as an aid to the driver, providing [specific] intelligent features.”
Level 2 (partial automation/combined autonomous functions) — “At this level, a self-driving automobile can perform two or more simultaneous tasks like steering, lane keeping, and speed maintenance while in cruise control mode.”
Level 3 (conditional automation/limited self-driving) — “The car assumes more than just partial control, and acts instead as a co-pilot. Although the driver can relinquish a lot of tasks to the car, the driver must to be ready at all times to resume control.”
Level 4 (high automation) — “These cars can perform all safety-critical driving functions while monitoring environments in defined-use cases without human intervention. Drivers enter the destination and navigation details and the car does the rest.”
Level 5 (fully autonomous) — “This car does not require any effort or driving on behalf of the human owner. There is no driving equipment in the car, which is designed to resemble comfortable environments like lounges and offices. The vehicle is in full control.”
Click the image to read more.
Members of the Hofstra community came together to make a message assuring all students that they are welcome on Hofstra’s campus. Representatives from faculty, administration, athletics, student affairs, and a wide variety of student leaders want all students from across the globe to know #YouAreWelcomeHere
Whether we are reviewing our company’s reputation or our own personal self-brand, the results may be challenging because of the spread of fake news and the proliferation of negative social media comments. What we hope for perceptions of our reputation may not be in sync with the way others see us. And having a favorable reputation is critically important.
What can we do to have a well-respected reputation? Consider these suggestions from Sapir Segal, writing for Marketo:
“Social media marketing requires a lot of patience and maintenance. Once you’ve established your social media presence and are generating engagement and measuring your ROI, the most important stage is to protect your hard work. Monitoring and protecting your social media presence from decline or extinction is just as pivotal as demonstrating it in the first place.”
“Controversial posts, account hacks, and inadvertent mistakes are all examples of threats that could harm your brand’s reputation. Luckily for marketers, many of these troubling factors are avoidable or correctable. To protect your social media reputation, you must have a careful eye for potential problems, a plan for handling crises, and a team you trust to write and manage the content. Here are three common mistakes that plague social media marketers: (1) unsupervised content publishing; (2) controversial content; and (3) account hacking.”
Click the image to read Segal’s solutions to these problems!
