Twilio Customer Engagement Index 2021 Highlights that Customer Engagement is a Success Factor for German Companies

Report on the value of customer engagement in Germany shows that 39% believe that one of the biggest advantages of improving customer engagement is revenue growth

Twilio (NYSE: TWLO) (LTSE: TWLO), the leading cloud communications platform, today unveiled its Customer Engagement Index 2021. Based on a survey of 500 C-level decision-makers from companies of all sizes in Germany, this explores the importance of customer engagement to the corporate strategy of German companies and the extent to which it is responsible for the companies’ success. The results show that corporate decision makers agree that the greatest benefits of customer engagement lie in improving customer satisfaction and consequently in customer loyalty and sales growth. The relevance of this topic is recognized across all levels: customer engagement is now a fundamental part of corporate strategy for two-thirds of all German companies surveyed.

Especially during the pandemic, it has become clear how important maintaining contact with customers is. But what is the current status of customer engagement in Germany? And how digital are German companies when it comes to interacting with their customers? 

The results at a glance:

Customer engagement is a success factor for German companies

Two-thirds of companies say that customer engagement is part of their corporate strategy. The benefits they cited include improved customer satisfaction (64%), customer loyalty (46%) and revenue growth (39%) for companies of all sizes.

The COVID-19 pandemic has been a booster for SMEs when it comes to customer engagement

According to Twilio’s survey, small and medium-sized companies (SMEs, or companies with less than 250 employees) in particular have recognized the connection between customer engagement and their company's success. SMEs are optimistic about the future, with 63% expecting sales to grow by 2023, and 82% saying that customer engagement plays at least a major role in the company's success. 66% of SMEs now anchor it in their corporate strategy - the highest figure across different company sizes. 

Significant increase in the importance of software development

The majority of SMEs are now one step closer to building a differentiated digital customer experience by using the right software to address customer needs: 88% of SMEs see a connection between the development of their own software and the success of their product or service strategy. Moreover 42% of SMEs that use their own software have expanded their software development by more than 50% in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

SMEs rely on omnichannel communication

79% of SMEs have established at least one new communication channel during the COVID-19 pandemic to better reach their customer base on the channels they want to be reached through. These include live chat (16%), social media (21%) and messaging services such as WhatsApp (15%).

Live chat is one of the big winners among channels

Across all industries, the majority of companies have integrated a new communication channel during the period of COVID-19 regulations. The channel that was amongst the most popular net new offering to their customers, is live chat. 

Customer Engagement is programmable

Thomas Boele, senior director of solutions engineering at Twilio, comments: "Companies have now rightly recognized the connection between customer engagement and company success: 82% of medium-sized companies and 88% of corporations believe that customer engagement plays a very important role in the success of a company. Twilio makes customer engagement accessible and enables businesses to create the solution they need to engage with their customers at every step of the journey. Twilio customers across many industries have demonstrated the advantage resulting from a focus on customer engagement. By using APIs, for example, new channels are easy to integrate, so companies of all sizes can use this business advantage that successful customer engagement brings."

About the study

In collaboration with Statista, Twilio surveyed 500 C-level managers and experts in the areas of digital strategy, digital experience, customer strategy, customer services, customer experience, customer care, customer engagement, digital product strategy, digital product design, service design on the topic of customer engagement and customer communication in September 2021.