New study reveals customer experience is getting worse; contact centres out of touch with the reality of today’s consumer
A new study from BoldChat by LogMeIn and Ovum reveals that customer experience has worsened over the last two years despite investments in new engagement channels. The report, which surveyed hundreds of contact centre managers and consumers globally, found that the consumers surveyed believe it takes 6 different interactions to resolve an issue while the surveyed contact centre managers believe it takes only 1-2 touchpoints.
This disconnect can be largely due to the fact that 72% of consumers surveyed search for information online before contacting an agent but the majority of contact centre managers surveyed (52%) do not track digital behaviour. In Australia and New Zealand (ANZ), the increasing disappointment with customer experience is threatening customer loyalty, sustainability and revenue growth as 90% report that they will stop doing business with a company following a bad experience – far outweighing their USA and European counterparts at 82% and 76% respectively.
In ANZ, the report also reveals that while 60% of consumers reported using 5+ channels for support, 46% of consumers noted that they believe access to agents has worsened over the last two years with 50% citing frustration with automated response systems. While 67% of participating consumers still believe that phone calls provide the most success for resolution, 77% would choose a channel other than voice if they knew they could get a resolution on the first attempt. This makes sense, as the top two priorities for ANZ customers is for organisations to improve access to web support channels including social media, communities and live chat (52%) and, more broadly, for organisations to offer faster agent response times (51%).
Ken Landoline, Principal Analyst, Customer Engagement at Ovum, commented,
“The disparity between the perception of contact centres and the reality of consumers when it comes to customer experience is worrisome as every interaction is proving to be critical to customer retention,”
“Because customers will stop doing business with a company following a bad experience, it is critical that brands identify friction points in the customer journey and offer their reps the tools and technology to help improve the overall customer experience from pre-purchase through post-purchase support.”
Additionally, the report provides insights into how consumers prefer to engage with brands including:
Increased adoption of live chat: The use of live chat has increased from 35% in 2014[1] to 43% today. Among the consumers interviewed, live chat ranked as the 3rd most popular way to resolve an issue and was viewed as the fastest way to get a response.
Mobile dominates the customer experience: Today, more consumers call from the smartphone (56%) than a landline. And they are using their mobile device for more than calls. 83% of participating consumers reported using mobile applications for customer support and 67% reported using mobile websites, up from 65% and 62%, respectively, since 2014[2].
Consumers are open to new ways of support: 31% of participating consumers currently use IoT-connected products, or are willing to, if it results in better customer service.
David Campbell, Vice President, Customer Engagement & Support Solutions, at LogMeIn, said,
“Today’s always-connected customer expects immediate access to information and fast, efficient and frictionless service,” “Most contact centers struggle to meet these expectations because they are limited by disjointed, legacy systems.
We see many forward-thinking businesses overcome these challenges by prioritizing investments in solutions that unify their engagement strategies across traditional and digital channels.”
Additional Information
This paper was written by Ovum in collaboration with BoldChat by LogMeIn.
The research and analysis is based on original, independent research by Ovum. In April and May 2016, Ovum carried out a survey of 300 contact center managers and 400 customers across North America, Europe and Australia and New Zealand.
To Download the Full Study: Get it right: Deliver the omni-channel support customers want Click Here
