UK businesses believe they are delivering a great service but many customers see it differently, according to a new report by Wrexham-based Moneypenny.
The research was commissioned among 2,000 businesses and 5,000 consumers to understand the gap between business and customer perceptions. The findings suggest that across every single contact method tested, businesses scored themselves significantly higher than customers.
Crucially, the research also suggests that when service falls short, customers are unlikely to complain, instead choosing to go elsewhere, creating a hidden and often unmeasured revenue risk for businesses.
How different communication channels meet customer expectations:
The survey also revealed that the channels businesses rely on the most to drive sales conversions are often those that fall short in terms of meeting customer expectations. This highlights a disconnect between the channels businesses believe drive conversion and those customers feel actually deliver a good experience, Moneypenny said.
For example, 74% of businesses surveyed said their social media drives conversion, but only 34% of consumers felt it meets expectations. Company web forms show a similar perception gap, with 72% of businesses believing they drive conversion but only 38% of consumers feeling they meet expectations. The pattern was repeated for company AI receptionists: 55% (business belief) versus 25% (consumer perception) and for chatbots: 58% versus 27%.
Speed of response is key in a world where consumers order dinner, book taxis, and stream films on demand. They don’t wait around for a call back, they’ll simply choose the business that responded faster. The survey showed that 70% of consumers say they're likely to choose the business that responds first. It also showed that 77% of business decision makers believe a customer will try a company again if they don’t receive a response to an enquiry, yet only 23% of consumers say they would keep trying, while around 1 in 5 or more would stop trying or go elsewhere. This 54 percentage point gap is one of the starkest findings in the report, revealing a major disconnect between what businesses think customers will do and what they actually do.
The findings also highlight how little feedback businesses receive when things go wrong, with customers far more likely to abandon an enquiry than raise a complaint, reinforcing how easily missed interactions can translate into lost revenue.
When asked what matters most on first contact, both businesses and consumers rated clarity, professionalism and human reassurance as most important, but there was a big perception gap in the importance of personalisation, with 87% of businesses rating it as important, compared with only 68% of consumers saying this.
The survey showed that 40% of consumers say support between 9am and 5pm would best meet their needs, while 26% would prefer early evening support between 5pm and 9pm. This preference is even stronger among households with children, with 32% saying evenings work best for them. This suggests many businesses may be missing a key window of customer intent outside traditional working hours, particularly in the early evening when demand remains high.
The survey also showed that out-of-hours availability makes customers more likely to feel reassured (35%), complete an enquiry or purchase (27%) and choose or stick with a business (25%).
Most businesses surveyed cite staffing and cost as the reason they can't extend cover, as the top barriers to offering out-of-hours support were:
- Staffing or resourcing: 47%
- Cost or affordability: 46%
- Technology limitations: 28%
- Customer demand doesn’t justify it: 25%
The report also highlights a broader experience challenge, with one in 10 consumers unable to recall a single memorable customer service experience, reinforcing how difficult it has become for brands to stand out.
Jesper With-Fogstrup, Group Chief Executive Officer for Moneypenny, said:
“A journalist asked me recently when I'd last had a truly memorable customer experience. It made me reflect because, even now, genuinely brilliant experiences are rarer than they should be. It highlighted the reality businesses are up against: expectations keep rising.
“The bar for ‘good’ isn't set by your industry. It’s set by every effortless experience people have had elsewhere; the playlist that anticipates your mood, the returns process that took less than 30 seconds. The future of customer experience isn't about deploying every trend or automating everything you can. It's about listening to your customers, acting on what they tell you, and delivering speed, clarity and human connection in the moments that matter. The opportunity is to make every interaction personal, relevant and contextually right.”
The full report can be found Moneypenny's website.
