A new study finds Australian customers are leaving at extraordinary rates and most Australian companies are ill-prepared to counter this trend in the rebound from the pandemic. While 70% of Australian sales and marketing leaders agree that it is more cost-effective to keep existing customers than closing a new sale, the same percentage report increased customer turnover, compared to 52% in a survey conducted the year prior.
These and more insights were revealed in new research from SugarCRM, based on a survey of 1,600 global sales and marketing professionals, including 400 in Australia. The findings pinpoint organisational turbulence across the customer journey while highlighting the inadequacies of traditional CRM solutions that aren’t purpose-built to address today’s post-pandemic customer experience realities.
Despite the cost of churn, a staggering 61% of Australian companies surveyed admit they do not understand the reasons for churn and 63% struggle to quantify and track churn rates effectively. This ‘Great Customer Resignation’ – yet another challenge for brands fighting an onslaught of forces including supply chain disruption and employment challenges – threatens the future of companies across all industries worldwide.
More than three-quarters of Australian respondents suspect customers are leaving due to poor customer service or experience. Likely, this is why 78% of Australian respondents said they need to do more to improve customer trust in their brand/organisation and why 76% underscored the need to act on customer feedback for improved customer service and experience.
Organisations need effective CRM strategies to combat customer churn and secure greater sales and marketing synergy and assurance. However, a staggering 68% of Australian respondents report their CRM system is wasting time and money, while a massive 71% say their current CRM system cannot be customised properly to meet their specific needs. CRM struggles are the highest in Australia, compared to 46% of US respondents and 56% of respondents in the UK.
“Addressing customer churn in the rebuild from the pandemic is a mission-critical activity,” said Jason du Preez, SVP Asia Pacific, SugarCRM. “Australian organisations need to be more customer-centric and use technology to optimise and personalise customer engagement. Unfortunately, many companies will fail to solve these problems without leveraging purpose-built AI to solve marketing and sales challenges. Australian businesses need a CRM platform that connects marketing, sales and service with a complete real-time customer view.
“To thrive, Australian companies need to understand the present and future needs of their customers and remove any friction points in the customer journey. They need to empower their employees with technology that can help them delight their customers and deliver an excellent customer experience.”