One of the things that caught my eye in the Institute of Customer Services UK’s (UKSCI) most recent report on customer satisfaction was the suggestion that a growing number of customers are prepared to pay more for improved service.

Digital platforms have become one of most powerful forces in global business. They support entire ecosystems, enabling rapid growth and huge profits for multiple participants.

Capita’s white paper explores how focusing on empathy, kindness and sincerity will equip organisations to help their most vulnerable customers.

It doesn’t seem too long ago that the introduction of interactive voice response (IVR) received a rocky reception with many customers citing that they preferred to speak to a ‘real human’.

There can be no doubt the pandemic has altered the emotional make-up of society. Collectively, we are now much more aware of the suffering of others – and how could we not be after seeing lives turned upside down and businesses upended with no sense of rhyme or reason or equity.

You have a problem. Someone else has been talking to your customer. The likes of Amazon, Apple, Nordstorm – and the other gods of customer service have been educating your customer in what excellent looks and feels like.

Customer loyalty is the holy grail of brand. Less than a decade ago, consumers told marketing research company IPSOS MORI that they trusted certain household brands (Heinz, John Lewis, Walmart) more than the Government.

A popular online brokerage prided itself on building a customer experience that made trading stocks as easy as swiping right or left to purchase a book online.

Businesses today are more inventive, creative and bold than they have ever been before. They’ve had to be. We are living in a moment where there is no ‘playing it safe’ – and where doing nothing is often the worst possible option.

‘Innovation’ has become a loaded word, one that can send a shiver down the spine of even the most forward-thinking CEO.