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Your customers expect more than fast answers. They expect empathy, context and consistency across each interaction. When those expectations fall short, they could walk away — fast. PwC’s 2025 Customer Experience Survey shows just how fast. More than half of the consumers (52%) surveyed say they stopped buying from a brand because of a bad experience with its products or services, while nearly one-third (29%) stopped due to poor customer experience, either online or in-person.
Yet many companies don’t recognize the disconnect. While 89% of executives believe customer loyalty has grown in recent years, only 39% of consumers say the same. This loyalty gap is not just a perception problem — it’s a growth problem.
Closing this gap requires rethinking where and how loyalty is built — starting with the contact center, where both customers and employees shape lasting connections. With the rise of agentic AI and platforms like Agentforce, contact centers are poised to evolve into intelligent loyalty engines — helping you build trust, strengthen relationships and accelerate growth.
From call center to control room: Service gets strategic
Your customers don’t care which department they’re talking to. They care about getting help that’s fast, relevant and consistent. In a world of channel-switching and fragmented service experiences, the contact center is where those expectations converge. And the scale is staggering. Across industries, contact centers handle billions of interactions annually — from phone, chat and email to mobile apps, social channels and in-person escalations.
That’s why leading companies are making service a strategic priority — and Salesforce users are ahead of the curve. In the Customer Experience Survey, 56% of the executives who say they currently use Salesforce as a marketing automation platform are investing in AI-powered customer service solutions to improve customer loyalty and retention, compared to just 42% of non-users.
The difference matters. Salesforce users report consistently stronger improvements across key customer experience metrics — especially in timeliness of interactions. When a customer reaches out for help, the clock starts ticking. Intelligent, AI-powered orchestration can be the difference between frustration and satisfaction.
Salesforce users feel AI improves CX most in timeliness, recommendations and purchases
Salesforce user
Salesforce non-user
Q: In your opinion, is AI hurting or improving the following aspects of your customers' experience when interacting with your brand? (Response to ‘Somewhat improving’ and ‘Significantly improving’.)
Note: Showing 4 choices out of 7 options.
Base: Salesforce users 170, Salesforce non-users 236
Source: PwC’s 2025 Customer Experience Survey
Note: Showing 4 choices out of 7 options.
Base: Salesforce users 170, Salesforce non-users 236
Source: PwC’s 2025 Customer Experience Survey
Enter Agentforce: The AI layer that works like a teammate
Reinventing the contact center isn’t just about adding new tools. It requires a business-led, AI-native transformation, one that rethinks customer journeys, redefines operating models, modernizes technology and equips people to succeed. Cue agentic AI — systems that can reason, plan and act across multi-step processes while collaborating with human agents.
Agentforce, Salesforce’s built-in agentic layer, enables this by functioning as a digital teammate.
- Deflecting the routine by handling high-volume, low-value inquiries, frees human agents to focus on the complex interactions where empathy and judgment matter most.
- It equips employees with real-time insights and context that make every conversation smarter and more human.
- It orchestrates experiences by routing cases and next-best actions so interactions flow seamlessly across channels.
It’s not about replacing people with machines. It’s about giving your teams an AI-powered teammate and a modernized foundation — so each interaction builds stronger relationships and measurable growth.
Frequent AI users aren’t just happier — they’re staying
Despite the hype, consumer sentiment about AI remains mixed. Our Customer Experience Survey found that only 30% of consumers say AI has made getting customer service assistance better, while 38% say it’s made it worse.
But when you dig deeper into the data, something more telling emerges. Those who have more frequent interactions with AI tools tend to rate them more positively. These users may understand how to navigate chatbots and virtual assistants efficiently — and they tend to become more loyal to the brands that use AI effectively.
Frequent AI users perceive far greater benefits in customer service
Low AI usage consumers
High AI usage consumers
Q: For you personally, are the following brand interactions better or worse when replaced with AI (e.g., virtual assistants, chatbots)? ‘Getting customer service assistance’.
Note: Low and high AI users calculated based on a previous question. Low AI usage consumers consist of those who either never used AI tools, avoid using AI tools or only use them when there’s no other option. High AI users consist of those who use AI tools most of the time or prefer using them when available.
Base: Low AI usage consumers 2,928, High AI usage consumers 899
Source: PwC’s 2025 Customer Experience Survey
Note: Low and high AI users calculated based on a previous question. Low AI usage consumers consist of those who either never used AI tools, avoid using AI tools or only use them when there’s no other option. High AI users consist of those who use AI tools most of the time or prefer using them when available.
Base: Low AI usage consumers 2,928, High AI usage consumers 899
Source: PwC’s 2025 Customer Experience Survey
That means the challenge isn’t just deploying AI — it’s bringing customers along in the journey. Companies should design AI-powered interactions that are transparent, respectful and easy to use so customers feel understood rather than processed.
This underscores the importance of intelligent orchestration and human collaboration. AI should know when to respond instantly, when to hand off seamlessly and when a human touch is essential. Get that balance right and each interaction can deepen the relationship instead of eroding it.
A new era for customer service
AI alone doesn’t build loyalty. But when it delivers speed, scale and consistency, it becomes a competitive advantage — driving revenue, reducing cost and elevating both customer and employee experience.
This is bigger than operational efficiency. The contact center is no longer just where customers go when something goes wrong. It’s where relationships are formed, emotions are remembered and loyalty is tested every day.
Agentic AI, delivered through platforms like Agentforce, is changing how that happens. As expectations rise, the winners won’t be the brands that simply deploy more bots. They’ll be the ones that design AI-powered experiences that still feel — and are — human.
What you can do next
Winning loyalty in the AI era takes more than new technology. It takes a human-centered, business-led transformation. Here are five ways to start.
When you redesign journeys, modernize operations and equip people with AI that works like a teammate, the contact center stops being a cost center — and becomes an engine for growth.
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