How complexity hurts your customers

Like a lot of shiny new software tools, that AI-powered analytics platform came with lots of promises. It would connect seamlessly with the company’s existing CRM. Implementing it would take two weeks and require zero help from IT. The app’s intuitive UI would make it a snap to onboard employees. 

At least, that was the promise.

But months after the project was approved—and IT was pulled in to help facilitate—the implementation wasn’t close to being done. 

Then, when the executive overseeing the purchase—vice president of customer experience for a global electronics manufacturer—needed the new tool to prepare a critical report to present to her board, she faced a problem. Her team was forced to manually collect the data, run it through a different analytics platform, and compile the report by hand at the last minute. 

Later, she’d have to justify why the company had spent so much money on a solution that did so little. “My question was, ‘What happened to the two weeks you promised me?’” she says. 

When it comes to software implementations, this executive’s experience was not unique. As Freshworks’ Global Cost of Complexity report shows, 4 out of 10 companies say they’re not seeing the ROI they expected from their CX platforms. More than half find the systems challenging to maintain, and 1 out of 5 regrets spending the money. 

“We see customers regaining thousands of hours each year by cutting redundant systems and putting AI to work where it makes sense," says Srini Raghavan, chief product officer at Freshworks. "It's not about more tools—it's about the right ones that deliver ROI today, not someday.”

Vendors are one part of the problem. Overpromises and underdelivery take a hit on productivity, and employee morale suffers. Worse, this unnecessary complexity degrades the customer experience, increasing churn and hurting a business’s bottom line. 

According to Qualtrics CX Trends Report 2025, 53% of customers say they will spend less with a vendor after a bad experience, costing companies as much as $3.8 trillion a year.

When complexity goes up, satisfaction goes down

All of this impacts productivity. According to the Freshworks report, employees waste nearly an entire day every week to needless complexity, such as creating workarounds for software programs that don’t integrate easily. Nearly half of respondents said they were unable to customize the platforms to match how their teams actually work. As a result, 36% of CX employees waste hours toggling between multiple tools, 33% said routine tasks take longer than necessary, and 27% reported that simple updates require too many steps. 

“When CX organizations are juggling too many tools, processes, or ‘one-off’ rules, things get complicated, and that complexity slows everything down,” says Grace Putney, director of client success at ICUC.social, a global online community management agency. “Instead of helping customers, employees and agents spend more time trying to figure out how to respond than actually resolving their concerns.”

CX orgs can reduce complexity by streamlining their existing processes, reducing the number of systems employees interact with, and conducting regular audits to make sure everything is working as intended, she adds.

Simplifying internal processes can pay real dividends. Data from Floor Insights reveals that when issues are resolved quickly, satisfaction scores rise and customers are more likely to recommend a company to others. 

 Unhappy employees leads to unhappy customers

The constant need to overcome technological barriers takes a toll on team morale, adds one executive who is head of customer success for a midsize e-commerce marketing agency.

“We do everything we can to ensure the customer is shielded from the messiness,” he says. “But sometimes that means we need to spend four times the number of tech cycles than we normally would, because we’re also trying to migrate tools or clean up tech debt. That leads to employee churn and a loss of institutional knowledge.”

One out of 5 CX people in the Freshworks report say a difficult software implementation crushed their organization’s morale—more than double the number of ITSM workers reporting the same—and 15% said someone on their team quit or became burnt-out due to the rollout.

“Burnout shows up in small ways at first, such as shorter replies, less patience, and slower problem-solving,” notes Putney. “When the support team is running on empty, it’s much harder for them to bring empathy into the conversation, and empathy is the heart of a good customer experience.”

Complexity saps creativity and stifles innovation

The biggest cost may be opportunities for growth and innovation that are lost to needless complexity. When overly complex processes are removed, 40% of CX respondents in the study said they’d have more time to focus on work that truly matters, while 29% said they’d feel less stressed and more in control. 

Empowering CX teams almost always results in faster problem resolution and more personalized interactions with customers, says Gal Orian Harel, CEO of Blix.ai, a customer feedback analysis platform.

“Encouraging creativity also lifts morale and employee engagement,” he adds. “That allows your people to deliver unforgettable experiences that none of your competitors can match.”