A new report by Moneypenny, the leading customer conversations company, shows that while London businesses believe they are delivering a great service, many Londoners see it differently.
The research was commissioned among 2,000 businesses (590 of which were in Greater London) and 5,000 consumers (1,357 of whom were in London), to understand the gap between business and customer perceptions and the findings showed that 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.
The perception gap: customer reality vs business perception
How different communication channels meet customer expectations in London:
| Channel | London consumers | London business decision-makers | Gap |
| Social media | 37% | 86% | +49pp |
| AI receptionist | 28% | 61% | +33pp |
| Chatbots | 30% | 62% | +32pp |
| Web form | 41% | 71% | +30pp |
| Messaging apps | 54% | 78% | +24pp |
| 65% | 87% | +22pp | |
| Live chat | 58% | 77% | +19pp |
| Phone | 71% | 86% | +15pp |
The hidden revenue risk
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. This highlights a disconnect between the channels businesses believe drive conversion and those customers feel actually deliver a good experience.
For example, 76% of London businesses surveyed said their social media drives conversion, but only 34% of Londoners felt it meets expectations. Company web forms show a similar perception gap, with 74% of London businesses believing they drive conversion but only 41% of Londoners feeling they meet expectations. The pattern was repeated for company AI receptionists: 65% (business belief) versus 28% (consumer perception) and for chatbots: 64% versus 30% respectively.
The one-shot economy
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, they’ll simply choose the business that responded faster. The survey showed that 73% of Londoners say they’re likely to choose the business that responds first. It also showed that 77% of London business decision makers believe a customer will try a company again if they don’t receive a response to an enquiry, yet only 24% of Londoners say they would keep trying, while 25% would stop trying or go elsewhere. This 52 percentage point gap is one of the starkest findings in the report, revealing a major disconnect between what businesses think customers will do and what they actually do.
The findings also highlight how little feedback businesses receive when things go wrong, with customers far more likely to abandon an enquiry than raise a complaint, reinforcing how easily missed interactions can translate into lost revenue.
Speed of response, professionalism, and human reassurance beats personalisation
When asked what matters most on first contact, both businesses and consumers rated clarity, professionalism and human reassurance as most important, but there was a big perception gap in the importance of personalisation, with 87% of London businesses rating it as important, compared with only 70% of Londoners saying this.
After hours advantage
The survey showed that 41% of Londoners say support between 9am and 5pm would best meet their needs, while 25% would prefer early evening support between 5pm and 9pm.
The survey also showed that out-of-hours availability makes Londoners more likely to feel reassured (35%), complete an enquiry or purchase (27%) and choose or stick with a business (25%).
Unfortunately, most London businesses surveyed cite staffing and cost as the reason they can’t extend cover, as the top barriers to offering out-of-hours support were:
- Staffing or resourcing: 47%
- Cost or affordability: 47%
- Technology limitations: 34%
- Customer demand doesn’t justify it: 24%
Jesper With-Fogstrup, Group Chief Executive Officer for Moneypenny, commented: “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.”
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