The Hidden Cost of Experience Gaps: Why Minor Frustrations Lead to Major Losses

According to a survey by Gallup, 43% of customers expect brands to provide a smooth and easy experience at every step. But sometimes, things don’t go as planned. These little slip-ups, called experience gaps, happen when a brand doesn’t meet what the customer was hoping for. 

While businesses focus on the big mistakes, it's often the small and repeated issues that quietly drive customers away.

In this article, we’ll explore:

• What are customer experience gaps?
• Why they happen
• The cost of customer experience gaps
• How to identify them
• A real-life example
• How to bridge the customer experience gap

What are Customer Experience Gaps?

A customer experience gap is the difference between what the customer expects from your brand and what they actually get. Customer experience gaps can happen at any point in the customer journey—whether that’s online, in-store, or across many channels.  

These experience gaps can occur for many reasons, like miscommunication, tech problems, employee knowledge gaps or the brand simply not understanding what the customer wants.

Are you experiencing this disconnect? SurveySparrow helps you gather real-time feedback across every touchpoint, so you can understand exactly what your customers want. Start your free trial today.

Why Customer Experience Gaps Happen 

Major gaps like terrible customer service are easy to spot. But brands often lose customers because of smaller, less noticeable issues that build up over time.

Instead of focusing on the obvious big mistakes, let's explore three critical (yet often overlooked) causes of these experience gaps:

Complex Systems

When brands offer a lot of products or services, things can get messy. A complex network of internal systems, delivery channels, and third-party vendors create subtle missteps that can lead to customer frustration.

Example: A customer orders a product online. But delivery is delayed because the warehouse doesn’t have real-time inventory tracking.

No Clear Accountability

Experience gaps often form when there’s no accountability for customer satisfaction. Teams focus on their own KPIs (such as sales or website traffic) instead of looking at the big picture - leading to major holes in the customer experience.

Example: The sales team promotes a new feature. But the support team doesn’t know about it, so they can't help customers with questions. 

Changing Customer Expectations

Customers’ expectations change with technology, societal changes and industry trends. If brands don’t keep up with these changes, they fall behind.

Example: A few years ago, waiting a few days for delivery was fine. Today, customers expect same-day shipping, and brands that don’t offer it risk losing them.

The Cost of Customer Experience Gaps

Lost Customers = Lost Revenue. According to research, 67% of customers cite bad experiences as the main reason for leaving a brand. But wait, there’s more:

• A survey found that 86% of consumers would leave a brand they trusted after just two or three poor experiences.
• Companies in the U.S. risk losing approximately $1.9 trillion every year due to poor customer experiences.
• Brands with outstanding customer experience generate 5.7 times more revenue than their competitors.
• Customers who have positive experiences tend to spend up to 140% more than those who report negative interactions.

How to Identify Experience Gaps: Proactive Solutions

The best way to get rid of experience gaps is to spot them before they affect the customer. Here’s a proactive approach:

Create a Centralized Feedback Loop

Ensure that feedback from all customer touchpoints—whether it’s online surveys, in-store feedback, or social media comments—is captured and analyzed in one place. 

A robust Voice of the Customer (VOC) program can help capture insights across channels and spot experience gaps at the right moment.

Use Predictive Analytics

Instead of waiting for customer complaints, brands can use AI and data to predict when an experience gap might happen. This can help flag issues before they become a big deal. 

Shadow Your Customer

Have your team experience your brand like a customer would. Create customer personas and go through the buying process, from the first visit to the final sale, to find any frustrating moments. 

Real-Life Example: Proactively Closing CX Gaps

Let’s talk about a turnkey equipment provider that implemented SurveySparrow for their feedback collection. 

By implementing an omnichannel feedback system across teams, the brand was able to dramatically reduce the experience gaps in key areas of their operations. 

Read the full case study here. 

Bridging the Gap: How to Prevent Customer Experience Gaps in the Future

Preventing experience gaps isn’t a one-time fix; it’s an ongoing process. Here’s how brands can stay ahead of these issues:

Update Customer Journeys Regularly

Brands should continuously map out the customer journey and update it to match new products, services, or processes. Doing this every few months helps keep the experience fresh and relevant.

Break Down Silos

Teams like sales, marketing, and customer support should work together for a consistent CX across all channels. Regular cross-team meetings can help keep everyone aligned.

Read: Customer Experience Framework: Building an Exceptional CX Strategy

Create a Culture of Feedback

Encourage employees to speak up if they notice something that could cause a bad customer experience. Every department should understand the importance of keeping customers happy, not just the front-line staff.

SurveySparrow is a powerful platform that helps you simplify feedback collection and analysis. With our AI survey maker, customizable templates and extensive analysis tools, SurveySparrow helps you radically improve your customer experience.

Sign up to try us for free. No credit card required. 

Wrapping Up

Customer experience gaps are a reality for many brands today. But they don’t have to stay that way. 

By proactively providing support, thinking like your customers, and constantly evolving, brands can close these gaps before they become deal-breakers. 

Read more about how to create a support ticketing system the easy way.