Redefining customer experience: from contact centres to connected journeys

Not long ago, good customer service was defined by availability: a call answered in a contact centre, a query logged, an issue resolved. Today, that bar has moved significantly. In a world shaped by on demand services and instant responses, service is no longer a support function sitting behind a brand; it is the brand experience.

For customers, this is felt in everyday moments. It’s the parent trying to restore broadband before the school run, or the small business owner whose card machine has gone down mid-morning -moments where service determines whether the day can move forward or come to a halt.

Expectations have risen accordingly. More than half of customers now expect a response within an hour when something goes wrong - and tolerance for poor experiences is low. In fact, over 50% say they would switch provider after a single bad service interaction ¹. Speed matters, but so does simplicity. Choice matters, but so does continuity.

So if instant, flexible and connected service is now the baseline, a bigger question emerges: what does great customer service actually look like today?

Speed, choice and continuity

The answer increasingly lies in how, where and when customers can get help, and how seamlessly those touchpoints connect. Customers now expect support at the moment they need it, moving fluidly between apps, websites, messaging platforms, phone calls and physical locations, often within a single interaction.

Research shows that customers now use an average of nine different channels to browse, buy and get support. While many still say they prefer speaking to a person, behaviour tells a more nuanced story: only a small proportion of customers list chatbots as their preferred option, yet nearly one in five report using them regularly ².

Physical stores remain a vital part of this mix. More than half of in‑store shoppers say knowledgeable staff have the biggest impact on their experience ³, and many customers still value face to face interactions for the reassurance and immediacy they provide. But digital and physical channels aren’t competing alternatives; they’re complementary parts of the same journey.

What customers value is flexibility - the ability to choose the channel that suits them in that moment. What they don’t want is friction: experiences that feel disjointed, slow or unnecessarily hard to navigate quickly erode trust.

That’s why the way channels connect behind the scenes matters as much as the channels themselves. A chatbot answering a routine question, a store colleague pulling up an account, or a contact centre agent stepping in with full context should all feel like part of the same conversation, not separate hand offs.

Where frustration creeps in

The challenge is that expectations have evolved faster than many service models designed to meet them. Despite more technology and more choice than ever, many customer experiences still fall short. The frustration is familiar: being bounced between chatbots, FAQs and agents; explaining the same issue multiple times; reaching the right place, but not the right outcome.

What begins as a simple problem can quickly become emotionally draining. The issue isn’t always the time it takes, it’s the sense of not being heard, of having to justify yourself again, or of losing confidence that the problem will be resolved at all.

We know our customer service isn’t always perfect. Large organisations don’t get everything right all the time. But the biggest frustrations rarely come from a lack of effort - they stem from systems optimised for efficiency rather than resolving issues end to end.

Resolution matters as much as response. Customers whose issues are resolved on the first contact are nearly twice as likely to trust a brand and continue buying from it ⁴. When frontline teams don’t have the full picture, customers feel the impact immediately.

As Ahmed Essam, CEO of Vodafone’s European markets, puts it: “support should resolve issues without customers being passed between chatbots, different agents and FAQs - where problems are solved first time, and customers only need to ask once.”

That thinking underpins our Just Ask Once commitment: a shift towards journeys that feel continuous, connected and resolved end to end.

Support should resolve issues without customers being passed between chatbots, different agents and FAQs - where problems are solved first time, and customers only need to ask once"

Ahmed Essan

CEO of Vodafone’s European Markets

Connection, not just contact

As technology becomes more capable, it’s tempting to see automation as the experience itself. But the real opportunity lies in balance. AI can enable faster responses, better accuracy and greater consistency, but it shouldn’t replace human care where it matters most.

Some moments call for speed. Others call for reassurance. When a customer is anxious, confused or dealing with a sensitive issue, empathy matters as much as efficiency. Technology should create space for those conversations, not crowd them out.

That balance is becoming essential as expectations rise, with conversational AI now widely used to improve speed and availability ⁵. At Vodafone, tools like TOBi, and its next evolution, SuperTOBi, already help customers get quick answers to everyday questions, from billing to troubleshooting.

As Vodafone Group CEO Margherita Della Valle has noted, the impact of AI on customer experience will depend on how it’s applied. “AI will make real impacts to customer experience across businesses - leveraging the best that technology can offer, while at the same time relying on experienced and engaged customer care professionals.”

By handling high volume, routine queries, digital tools free frontline teams to focus on complex, emotional or high impact situations, where human judgement really matters.

The aim isn’t to remove human interaction. It’s to remove unnecessary interaction, enabling us to enrich experiences and provide value when needed.

AI will make real impacts to customer experience across businesses - leveraging the best that technology can offer, while at the same time relying on experienced and engaged customer care professionals"

Margherita Della Valle

Vodafone Group CEO

From reactive service to proactive connection

The next evolution in customer service goes beyond responding quickly when something breaks. It’s about anticipating needs before they become problems.

As Ahmed Essam says, “The future is a truly first model powered by driven intelligence, anticipating issues before they arise and delivering solutions before customers even need to ask.” For customers, this could mean proactive alerts, personalised recommendations or fixes that happen quietly in the background. For organisations like us, it represents a shift from reactive service to proactive connection.

This is not a single transformation moment. It’s an ongoing process of learning, testing and improving. Customer expectations will continue to evolve, and so must the way we serve them to keep everyone connected.

Read about our Just Ask Once commitment to connected, continuous service journeys.

Learn how SuperTOBi is helping customers get faster answers to everyday questions across multiple markets.

Discover how we’re building trust by protecting customers from the frontline, with the people and processes behind the experience.

Research references

1. Zendesk, 2025 CX Trends Report – https://www.zendesk.com/newsroom/articles/2025-cx-trends-report/

2. YouGov, Customer service channel preferences – https://yougov.com/en-us/articles/51802-how-americans-prefer-to-contact-businesses-for-customer-service

3. ZipDo, Retail CX statistics – https://zipdo.co/customer-experience-in-the-retail-industry-statistics/

4. Qualtrics / CX Dive, First contact resolution & trust – https://www.customerexperiencedive.com/news/wait-times-first-call-resolution-customer-loyalty/735043/

5. Gartner, Conversational AI in customer service (2025) – https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2024-12-09-gartner-survey-reveals-85-percent-of-customer-service-leaders-will-explore-or-pilot-customer-facing-conversational-genai-in-2025