Top Trends in Experience for 2024
- The AHA Group
- Jan 28
- 1 min read
Over the next three days, I’m sharing three of my top eight trends in Experience for 2024.
Today, we are starting with “The Five-Star Illusion”.
The Five-Star Illusion Will Grow in 2024: Companies with “5-Star” survey results may just be asking the wrong questions or measuring the wrong things. This false sense of security may cause executives to miss enormous blind spots in the business.
CEOs regularly show me their spectacular five-star survey results and then ask why they are failing to grow their loyalty base, add repeat customers, and increase referrals. Often, the data gathered by these surveys, or other listening tools, are measuring the wrong things and that five-star rating is a pure illusion.
When you dive into the details and audit these results, often the opportunities to improve are substantial - and the company is not delivering a true five-star experience. Instead, they are happily indulging the illusion that they are performing wonderfully and have little room to improve. This may be due to hubris, financial incentives tied to the rating, or fear of change or rocking the boat.
In 2024, the number of businesses experiencing this Reality Gap will grow. When lagging indicators like loyalty metrics, repeat purchasing, and referrals struggle, your customer experience is not keeping pace with customer expectations. You may be underperforming in easily addressable areas and not even know it!
Customers vote with their wallets and their referral equity, so beware “five-star” survey results without the accompanying revenue and growth metrics. Surveys should reflect reality, and if survey results are spectacular, but the business results are not, it may be time for a deeper look.