Maria.Jurado – Account Director
Study: Understanding Differentiation in Customer Experience Across Central America and the Caribbean.
Area of Expertise: CX / 2025
Starting with the uncomfortable: hearing “everything feels the same”
It is worth acknowledging a scene that is becoming increasingly common in Customer Experience and market research studies: hearing a brand say “we are customer centric,” and yet feeling that the experience could belong to almost anyone. Not because it is bad, but because it is generic. It solves problems, yes. It surprises, no. It delivers, yes. It differentiates, very little.
The results of a recent study we conducted in Puerto Rico, Honduras, Guatemala, Costa Rica, and El Salvador, as part of a market research project that combined qualitative and quantitative methodologies with a sample of 1,500 customers across different categories, invite reflection on this sensation that seems to be becoming the norm. Not because companies are not working hard, but because many are optimizing in the same direction, with similar priorities and, at times, almost identical narratives. The risk is ending up competing to “not fail,” when what truly drives a brand’s growth is “being chosen.”
These results also suggest that many organizations are still operating from a defensive CX logic: focusing on ensuring that the service “does not fail,” that there are no complaints, that response times are acceptable, and that the customer journey is frictionless. However, the reality is that meeting the minimum standard so that customers do not get upset is no longer enough and, in some cases, may even move us further away from the real goal: growing because customers actively choose us.
Changing this vision of how customer experience is managed becomes a strategic decision for brands, as it implies operating with an offensive logic: designing an experience that is so clear and distinctive that customers actively prefer us, even if we are not the most affordable or closest option. In other words, being different and relevant within a broader marketing strategy and market analysis.
Stop confusing “frictionless” with “memorable”
Digitizing processes, reducing response times, standardizing answers, and expanding channels—all of this matters and is often measured through online and offline surveys. However, there is also a trap: turning zero friction into the final goal.
Zero friction is replicable and therefore falls short when the objective is to create differentiation through experience. If an improvement is limited to simply “making things easier,” sooner or later the market will copy it. And when everyone copies it, what remains is an experience that is correct but interchangeable from a competitive analysis perspective.
The invitation is to think beyond the dashboard and ask the question that truly matters: are we building preference, or are we simply managing complaints? The focus should not only be on measuring satisfaction, but also on measuring meaningful difference, supported by market research and analysis.
From the perspective promoted by Kantar Mercaplan as a market research and consulting firm, the core issue is not “having CX,” but “having differentiated CX.” This becomes critical when, in the regional study, the percentage of people who perceive “differences in the experience” barely reaches 26%. In a context of economic pressure, this scenario makes it much easier for customers to decide based on price or convenience.
Turning experience into a signature, not a checklist
Working on significantly different experiences means going beyond “frictionless” and combining functional performance with emotional reward and consistency with the brand promise. In one sentence: stop trying to “do everything right” and start “doing something unique, consistently,” supported by data analysis, business research, and methods such as focus groups.
If the brand promise says “we make it easy,” it must be proven at the first obstacle. If the promise says “we take care of you,” the brand must respond before the customer has to chase it. If the promise says “we are premium,” the intangible aspects must be protected: tone, timing, consistency, and details.
The invitation is to move from “having data” to “operationalizing it” in order to close the gap between experience and growth, guided by three powerful and strategic questions:
What do we want customers to remember (top of mind)?
What do we do that would be difficult for competitors to copy?
Which moment of truth are we not winning yet?
Experiencing a differentiation crisis in customer experience across Central America and the Caribbean opens a world of opportunities and challenges for brands. It pushes them to build an experience with a distinctive signature—aligned with their promise, consistent in moments of truth, and capable of generating a recognizable emotional impact.
