2026 Customer Experience Trends + Predications

Customer Experience (CX) isn't a nice-to-have - and it hasn't been for some time. It will continue to be a brand builder, business differentiator, and loyalty accelerator well into the future as products and services become ever-more commoditized in a noisy market.

The most important thing to remember - and this goes above the fold with a full stop - CX does not exist in a vacuum. This is where many organizations and CX practitioners fail. CX is the enabler and connector of an ecosystem. It ties employee experience to the outcomes at the moment of truth, which are fueled by hospitality, service, and quality. That means they must be consistently applied, intentionally scaled, and measured with discipline.

• Employee Experience (EX) is crucial to the success of your Customer Experience (CX) program. How you engage your team is how they will deliver on your brand promise.
  

• Technology, Innovation, and AI are powerful enablers for success. Ensure you always keep a human in the loop to intervene when needed and use these tools not to cut labor, but to allocate to higher value tasks.
  

• Customer understanding, personalization, and anticipation will be a key driver of loyalty - people love brands that know them and make their lives easier.

  
  

So let's start by defining Customer Experience. There are five guidelines that fuel the delivery of great experiences to customers, guests, and consumers. The one key takeaway is that hospitality and CX are not interchangeable. Hospitality is a part (a very important part) of the CX Guidelines.

These are important as they create a lens of experience that helps define what can be seen as a nebulous concepts, which makes it harder to deploy, measure, and sustain.

So, as we turn the page into 2026, let's talk about where CX is heading and how you can lead the charge. This isn't just for Customer Experience Practitioners. This is applicable for anyone in any business as it is is about customer-centricity and business growth.

I spent a decade in CX roles for large, dispersed organizations and last 7 years working with organizations globally in healthcare, travel, leisure, education, financial services, restaurants, and food service to improve the overall customer experience. Based on my work over the past year, this is what I am seeing on the horizon for 2026.

10 CX Predictions + Trends for 2026

1. Employee Experience is a Multiplier for Customer Experience

EX = CX is a formula you should recite every day. Great customer service happens because of your team on the ground, and they are the face of your brand wherever they meet customers. When your people have proper training, the right tools, and are empowered to act, customer service and hospitality improve measurably. Research consistently shows that organizations investing in employee experience see stronger engagement and higher customer satisfaction. In fact, companies with highly engaged employees see 20% higher sales and 23% higher profitability according to Gallup.

2. Simple, Consistent, Frictionless Experiences Win

Customers love easy. They want predictability, simplicity, and fast, seamless service. These aren’t bonuses anymore, they are table stakes for consumers. In a world where everything seems increasingly complex and time is an increasingly valuable (and limited) commodity, dig into the bedrock of your processes and toss out the ridiculous rules, silly policies, and cumbersome processes that drive your customers crazy. Think about the last time you went to the doctor and filled out the same form you did last time – or worse – the same form you just did online in their patient portal. Anything that feels like it makes the company's job easier and costs customers time will drive them away in the end.

3. Experience Teams Must Prove Their Business Value Internally

I am looking right at anyone with "CX" or "Customer Service" in their job title. CX leaders can no longer fly under the flag of “good vibes.” Stakeholders, boards, and executives want measurable outcomes and they need to see the path from experience to revenue. When you tie experience improvements to retention, revenue growth, risk mitigation, or operational cost savings, you earn the seat at the table you’ve been asking for. There is no doubt that experience drives sales, but CX leaders have not done a great job of showcasing the data or making the business case. The clock is ticking as organizations re-evaluate the need and priority for CX resources.

Book Tony Johnson today to speak at your next meeting, consult on your customer experiences, or lead a training event in you business. Set up a call to discuss your personalized event.

4. Customers Want Proactive, Predictive, Personalized Experiences Without Creepiness

Today’s customers expect experiences that feel relevant and anticipatory, but not intrusive. Over 70% of consumers expect personalized interactions, and brands that get this right build loyalty without triggering concerns about privacy. This is a delicate balancing act, but customers want businesses that understand them, what they are trying to accomplish, and proactively offer solutions to meet and exceed their expectations. This starts with knowing their names and their preferences, but also how you make recommendations based on what you know about them and leverage that to build a relationship. Ritz Carlton is a great example of knowing their customers and is always one step ahead with milestones and remembering favorites. Even my local air conditioner company, Springer Brothers, makes sure I stay on track with annual preventative maintenance and schedules created for me and my systems.

5. Quality and Speed Are Both Non-Negotiable

Customers want experiences that are both fast and correct. Speed without quality feels careless and quality without speed feels like half an experience. Customers want brands who understand that time is valuable and customers have become accustomed to speedy on demand experiences that save them time. It isn’t enough for quality to be there some times – customers want it every time and that ultimately builds trust with brands. That may require some expectation management on your end as a business because not all processes are instant and quality is often variable based on the tier of service being delivered. I enjoy Big Macs, the burger at Five Guys, Ruth's Chris, and Peter Lugers – but they all come at a different price point and level of service. They all know where they fit in the ecosystem and manage customers’ expectations of quality, speed, and price accordingly. No one expects a $20 burger at McDonalds and they understand why it won't be $10 at Ruth's Chris.

6. Your Competition Is Everyone

Customers don’t benchmark you against other brands in your category or industry. They measure you against all the experiences they have ever had anywhere. That means your competition isn’t just your direct rival, it’s the brand that delivered effortless service, anywhere. If you are a restaurant, you are not just competing against other restaurants, you are competing against the last time they went to UPS, Disney, and yes, anyplace they have ever eaten (including their mom’s kitchen). That’s a tall order, but it also means your opportunities to differentiate are bigger than ever.

7. AI is a Crucial Enabler - With People Still in the Loop

Artificial intelligence isn’t just hype anymore. In 2026 it’s a foundational technology that will continue to accelerate business and help brands understand customers. But the brands that win won’t be the ones that blindly automate - they will be the ones that use AI ethically, transparently, and with humans in the loop where nuance matters most. They will not look directly for ways to cut labor, but to reallocate it to higher value tasks. Customers want speed and personalization, but they also want transparency about how their data is being used.

8. Data and Customer Journeys Must Be Unified

Disconnected data creates disconnected experiences. If your teams can’t access synchronized information across channels and touchpoints, customers will feel like they are starting from scratch with every interaction. True omnichannel experiences means one source of truth driving decisions, insights, and interactions - and it’s essential for both personalization and consistency. Customers notice when the journey is fragmented or disjointed, and it is a source of friction that will push them to competitors. Also be sure that you keep data available for teams to use and learn from rather than hoarding it or letting it gather dust on a share drive.

9. Survey and Listening Approaches Need an Overhaul

Traditional feedback loops such as long surveys delivered after the fact are losing relevance. Customers are fatigued and less likely to respond, and teams are missing signals that matter. You need to shift to low-effort, real-time feedback and behavior-based listening that reveals insights without burdening the customer. The Lakeland Chamber of Commerce, for example, switched to a one question pulse in their weekly member emails and have found a dramatic increase in participation. Companies that collect feedback directly after a service experience and use targeted questioning such as “Did we resolve your issue today?” or “How could we have made your experience better?” will find they get relevant, accurate, and more importantly, more responses.

10. Know Your Position in the Market and Provide Value Beyond Price

Economic pressures aren’t going away in 2026. Customers are scrutinizing every dollar, and value is defined by more than price. They want durability, ease, trust, and connection. Brands that can clearly articulate where they sit in the value spectrum will build deeper loyalty and avoid commoditization. We have identified and outlined the following Experiential Scale to highlight the differentiation across tiers when it comes to overall experience. The important part is to know where you fall, what you want to be, and to communicate those expectations to guests. That said, the center of the scale is where it tends to be more difficult to differentiate, so care is needed there to not become noise in a crowded market.

So as we all look to accelerate our success in 2026, consider these questions:

• What is the current state of employee engagement and development?

• Where are customers encountering friction in their experience?

• Is AI being maximized to drive CX and EX?

• Is there a human in the loop to oversee technology?

• Do you understand your customers and do they understand your value?

Customer Experience will continue to be a strategic sales differentiator if you invest in the tools, training, and resources to deploy and sustain in your business. Remember these are not plans your can talk about once in January and then sit back and watch the results. This is everyday stuff that has to be the first, middle, and last thing on your list. Otherwise it just doesn't work - it doesn't become sticky and it falls to the wayside by Valentine's Day.

This is your moment. Start 2026 with intentionality. Define where you play, how you win, and what you deliver beyond price and product. The future of experience belongs to those disciplined enough to prioritize the strategy and empathetic enough to keep people at the center of everything.

Tony Johnson

* Crafted with care + intentionality by a real human, not A.I.

Tony is an award winning speaker and author on the topics of sales growth, customer experience, and leadership. Tony speaks to thousands annually and has been featured on ABC News and Fox News. He is available for business planning, motivational keynotes, leadership workshops, and employee service skills training.

Tony is the founder of Ignite Your Service + Consulting and the Co-Managing Partner, Co-Owner, and Chief Experience Officer for 4xi Global.

Tony is available to help with your Customer Experience and Employee Engagement Strategies, inspirational keynote talks, team training and development, and executive leadership coaching.

* (C) 2025 The Tony Johnson, LLC. May not be used to train A.I.