New Survey Shows the Divide in How Businesses and Customers Perceive Their Customer’s Communication Experiences

ATLANTA (April 2026) – A new report from Moneypenny, the world’s leading customer conversations company, shows businesses believe they are delivering a better call experience than their customers perceive. The research was commissioned among 2,000 businesses and 2,000 consumers to understand the gap between business and customer perceptions, and 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.

“Across each channel, there were significant gaps between how businesses graded themselves versus their customers – some as high as 32 percentage points,” said Jesper With-Fogstrup, Group Chief Executive Officer for Moneypenny. “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, highlighting a critical disconnect.”

For example, 64% of businesses surveyed said their social media drives conversion, but only 32% of consumers felt it meets expectations. Company web forms show a similar perception gap, with 64% of businesses believing they drive conversion but only 32% of consumers feeling they meet expectations. The pattern was repeated for company AI receptionists: 56% (business belief) versus 26% (consumer perception) and for chatbots: 54% versus 26%, respectively. Messaging apps had a 20-percentage point difference, email a 23-percentage point difference, while Live Chat had a gap of 13 and phone a gap of 16.

Speed is now decisive, with 70% of consumers choosing the business that responds first, turning slow response into immediate lost revenue. A whopping 89% of businesses said the phone was effective at converting customer inquiries into actual business, more than any other channel, and 69% of consumers agreed. Further aligning on the need for calls to be answered as quickly as possible: 33% of businesses and 17% of consumers think a response should be within seconds, while 36% of businesses and 41% of consumers think within minutes.

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, and will simply choose the business that responds fastest, with the Moneypenny survey showing that 72% of consumers say they’re likely to choose the business that responds first.

When considering factors that determine loyalty to a company, speed of response (36%) and “quality I can rely on” (32%) rank more highly with consumers than trusting the brand (30%). The findings also highlight how little feedback businesses receive when things go wrong, with customers far more likely to abandon an inquiry entirely 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 courtesy as most important, but there was a significant perception gap in the importance of personalization, with 87% of businesses rating it as important, compared with only 65% of consumers.

The survey showed that 39% of consumers say call support between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. would best meet their needs, while 24% would prefer early evening support between 5 p.m. and 9 p.m. 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.

According to the research, this after-hours availability makes customers more likely to feel reassured (37%), choose or stick with a business (32%), make the company stand out compared to others (31%) and complete an inquiry or purchase (31%). Businesses (40%) recognize that customers expect after hours support, and yet, most of those surveyed cite staffing and cost as the reason they don’t extend coverage.

“I found it interesting that the report also highlights a broader experience challenge, with 1 in 10 consumers unable to recall a single memorable customer service experience,” added With-Fogstrup. “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 thirty 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.”

Note to editors:

The survey was conducted online by Censuswide, on behalf of Moneypenny, among 2,000 US business decision-makers and 2,000 US consumers between March 17 and April 3, 2026.

About Moneypenny

As the world’s customer conversation experts, Moneypenny’s unique blend of brilliant people and AI technology integrates seamlessly to deliver customer conversations that unlock valuable opportunities for businesses, 24/7. Available across all voice and text channels, Moneypenny responds to and fulfills requirements for thousands of UK and US clients who value their reputation and recognize that the key to sustainable growth is working with a partner who allows them to scale in an agile way. For more information, visit https://www.moneypenny.com/us/.

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