In our 20+ years of operation, Square Holes has worked with countless businesses and organisations on perfecting their customer service/experience.

We know customer service is important. A 2025 ServiceNow report, The State of Customer Service in Australia, found that 80% of customers would request a refund due to poor service, while 62% would leave a negative social media review following a poor experience.

The report also revealed that the top factors turning consumers away from brands include:

• High prices (68% of customers)
• Difficulty getting in contact (57% of customers)
• Lack of human empathy (48% of customers)

Tools such as digital technology, social media and personalisation through data have intensified consumer expectations, with consumers now having a base level assumption that all brands will provide faster communication/resolutions,  self-service tools and tailored experiences. Add to this increased global competition and access, as well as digital soapboxes at the end of everyone’s fingertips to air grievances – it’s getting increasingly tricky to take a business-as-usual approach to customer service.

For every business, good service is going to look slightly different, and it is in this difference that your unique pocket of delighted, dedicated customers will be found.

Take, for example, Haighs, a 111-year-old family-run chocolate business. We have worked with Haighs over the past decade on brand health, before evolving into customer profiling. While chocolate is never a hard sell, Haigh’s sits at a premium price point for a premium product. So how do they distinguish themselves against the cheaper (and more accessible) Cadbury’s of the world? They don’t. They have created a class all of their own through premium customer service that both surprises and delights.

A Haighs storefront is one with attentive and traditional service, along with clever memory-making moments like free samples handed over the counter by store clerks in white gloves.

But in a world of consumers seeking convenience and immediacy through online portals, how does Haigh’s continue to surprise and delight when not face-to-face with their customers?

Fiona Krawczyk, Marketing Manager at Haigh’s Chocolates, told us in a past interview that through market research, they have been able to build on their exemplary service record.

“We have a very passionate customer base and they’re always wanting to talk to us, so it’s really about giving them the opportunity to do so in as many different ways as possible. I think that there is benefit in having direct exchanges with our customers via research rather than waiting for them to come to you. Insights and golden nuggets can be gleaned,” said Krawczyk.

Jason Dunstone, Founder and Managing Director at Square Holes argues that brands that only focus on Net Promoter Score (NPS) and friction reduction over more holistic customer deep dives are missing out the whole picture.

“The risk is that customer service almost becomes robotic, removing the moments of joy that make growth brands like Haigh’s or the coffee shop on the corner with wonderful staff stand out. They make the premium price worth paying for. They make the customer experience more human, less friction reduction, or cost efficiency (even if they actually may be),” says Dunstone.

Dunstone states that while friction removal has its place, memorable and shareable customer service lives in the unexpected moments of joy.

“In this era of everything feeling hard, perhaps customer strategy should be less about boring friction removal, and more about finding special moments of joy – a free taster chocolate from Haigh’s or a funny little message when shopping online. Customer service is about getting the basics right – consistently getting the right things right, but on top of this basic fundamental, it is about moments of joy,” says Dunstone.

In 2025, Square Holes was contracted by Wine Australia to conduct a research program into the changing consumption habits of Australian wine drinkers on-premise. Wine Australia were faced with declining numbers, but a lack of understanding as to what was driving this downturn.

Through a comprehensive process that involved in-depth interviews with industry stakeholders (venues, wineries and distributors), consumer focus and affinity groups targeting on-premise visitors, an online survey, and ethnographic observation – Square Holes pinpointed four key outcomes: wine is losing ground to more dynamic, customisable beverages, younger consumers drink wine in more “intentional” settings, complexity along with cost was turning people away, and execution in klnowledge and presentation was costing the category.

As consumer expectations shift and cultural changes, like alcohol consumption and ‘going out’ activities, evolve due to world events (the pandemic) and economic impacts (cost-of-living crisis), to stay relevant and agile, businesses need to invest in considered and comprehensive consumer listening. Without it, your customer experience is built on guesswork and industry standards.

It will lack that special pocket of joy that only your brand can deliver, because you really know your customers.

Need help learning more about how you can learn more about your customers/audience – contact us HERE.