Released today, KPMG Luxembourg ‘Inside customers’ minds to deliver valuable experiences' sheds light on customer experience expectations in what we now call the “new normal”. The research shows how many customers have since reverted to their initial pre-Covid high expectations and regardless of the persisting difficulties, they now expect brands to perform at their peak, if not even higher. The study is part of a KPMG global research project from the Customer Experience Excellence Center analysis supported by customer specialists KPMG Nunwood, conducted with 88,616 consumers across 26 countries worldwide.

KPMG surveyed over 1,000 customers for its Luxembourg study, covering nearly 80 brands across nine sectors. The ranking of the top 10 Luxembourg brands is being released today together with an in-depth analysis of the Luxembourg market. For the first time the survey highlights two number one ex aequo, Banque Raiffeisen and Spuerkeess, both demonstrating strong trustworthiness and the recurring capacity to maintain proximity to their clients, even remotely. The family-owned book retailer Ernster (number one in 2018 and 2019), secured third place for the second year in a row, demonstrating once again great consistency in the high quality CX it provides.

Whilst last year’s race involved finding solutions to reinvent and reconfigure their businesses, this year’s goal was to maintain that pace and go one step further to ensure that ever-evolving customer needs and expectations were met, and possibly exceeded.

Jean-Pascal Nepper, Partner and leader on Customer Experience Excellence at KPMG comments this year’s survey’s results:

“The customer journey is increasingly taking the direction of the new and challenging phygital world where the presence of new technologies is indispensable, if not taken for granted. The analysis of the multiculturally diverse Luxembourg market shows that customer expectations keep rising. This should be taken as a sign for top organizations to continue on their paths of exceeding expectations to stay ahead of the curve”.

2021’s top 10 Luxembourg customer experience brands

1          Raiffeisen/Spuerkeess

3          Ernster

4          Nespresso

5          Luxair Tours

6          Foyer

7          Lalux

8          Colruyt

9          Lineheart

10        Leading online retailer

The financial sector tops the local rankings for fourth consecutive year

The financial services sector (that includes both retail banks and insurance companies) proudly defends its position as a CX leader for the fourth year in a row.

Overall, the retail banking sector has handled the pandemic well. Massive efforts were made to continue to serve clients, despite the many obstacles present. This sector has also understood that the key to a great customer experience starts with a great employee experience, putting a heavy emphasis on empathy from all angles.

As we’ve seen this year, Luxembourg is no longer spared from major catastrophes. As a result, individuals, businesses, and governments now realize that dealing with the effects of climate change cannot wait. Better solutions for coping with the new reality are needed today. Insurance companies in particular are facing pressure to rethink traditional models that were not devised for this new environment.

Jean-Pascal Nepper, Partner and leader on Customer Experience Excellence at KPMG, explains:

“CX counts more than ever in times of crisis, and recent events show that it will not be the last time that Luxembourg insurers need to respond to a major disaster. A combined client-centric and a data-driven approach can provide the tools to maintain critical services in high-pressure situations and build customer relationships that will last a lifetime”.

The restaurants and fast food are second place, followed closely by the grocery retail sector. Overall, this is a clear indicator of how food and conviviality have an essential role to play in consumers’ lives by bringing people together and making them feel closer to each other after the mandatory social distancing that has prevailed in recent months. This is just human nature calling for more contact, more interaction and, essentially, more humanity.

Interestingly, the travel and hotels sector remain high in the ranking, which is quite an achievement considering business has been massively hit by the crisis and the restrictions imposed by the governments.

Experience Management: the key to customer satisfaction

In order to increase customer satisfaction, loyalty and advocacy, brands need to look at CX as a priority topic that requires strong and efficient management. Modern experience management initiatives are agile driven and must serve the organization’s vision as well as align with the customer’s interest. It is about measuring CX, mapping and monitoring journeys, identifying priorities, driving initiatives and closing the loop.

While innovation and digital solutions have been a must during the pandemic, leveraging on new technologies to provide great experiences should always be balanced by reinforcing human relationships and an authentic interest in the customer’s real needs.

It is up to each organization to define the perfect balance between these elements and to work tirelessly on building a human-centric culture.

Julien Hugo, Director CX & EX at KPMG, illustrates: “Reasons to launch CX initiatives can be very diverse. From gaining loyalty to generating more revenues, or through increasing brand visibility to shaping tomorrow’s behavior. Whatever the driver may be, we are all striving to enhance the experience delivered. So, what’s the difference between a successful initiative and a failed one? The answer might be more obvious than you think…”

To read the KPMG Luxembourg Customer Experience Excellence report: ‘Inside customers’ minds to deliver valuable experiences’ please download here.  

More on the KPMG Global Customer Experience Excellence report: ‘Orchestrating experiences’ here.