In theory, customers today have never had it better.

When they run into service or support issues, they have a growing menu of digital options to get what they need: email, text, social media, live chats, chatbots, and self-service portals. When those fall short, they turn to a reliable standby: the phone.

In practice, however, the whole doesn't nearly match the sum of the parts. According to the most recent Forrester study, the quality of customer experience in the U.S. has reached an all-time low, with brands seeing declines in overall effectiveness, ease of interaction, and emotional responsiveness.

Similar research from Qualtrics XM shows that, except for the pandemic year of 2020, customer trust is at its lowest point since 2016. And the 2024 Achieving Customer Amazement (ACA) survey by bestselling author and customer service advisor Shep Hyken reports that 43% of consumers have had more subpar customer service experiences in the past year than in previous years.