For European customers, a knowledgeable representative and timely response are the most valuable components of a great customer service experience, according to a new study from Interactive Intelligence – a global provider of unified IP business communications solutions, providing innovative contact center software.
The survey was conducted between Feb. 28, 2013 and March 25, 2013. A total sample of 1407 and 453 was gathered for the consumer and professional surveys, respectively, among the following countries: Australia, Brazil, Germany, North America, South Africa, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.
According to the study, a customer service representative’s knowledge and response time are the “least likely aspects to be affected by technology, although the proper tools can provide a quick response time; training and information are what make knowledgeable representatives.”
The most frustrating part of a customer service interaction is not being able to understand the agent, the study found.
“It doesn’t matter how much an agents knows if the caller can’t understand them, just like it doesn’t matter how clear the call quality is if the agent is sounding like gibberish,” according to the study.
While there are various means of available communication, the study found that live chats with agents is still the preferred method, followed by email, and web chat, SMS, and other means are still far down the list of preferences.
“Customers will praise good service experiences on social media more frequently than they’ll complain about a bad one,” according to the study. “Similarly, the ability to provide feedback with ease is also a service that customers will appreciate, whether the feedback is positive or negative.”
Here are 10 key findings and conclusions from the study:
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A knowledgeable representative and a timely response are the most valuable components of a great service experience
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Hotels, online retailers, and banks provide the best customer service experiences
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Live agent remains the preferred interaction type, followed by email and then there is a significant drop to web chat, etc. (this varies by age demographic)
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Historical information access is deemed the most valuable feature of an interaction
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Not being able to understand the agent is rated as the most frustrating part of an interaction
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Customers are more willing to use social media to praise a good service experience vs. complaining about a poor experience
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Customers aren’t willing to pay extra for higher level service
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The ability to get a scheduled call‐back was the most desired mobile application functionality
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The most valuable technical service to offer customers is “an easy way to provide feedback”
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Comprehensive reporting and analytics is the top feature desired by contact center Professionals
What’s more, the study found that consumers consider their account information to be the most valuable piece of information an agent can have available before interacting with them. Equally important to consumers is not having to repeat information if transferred during an interaction.
More consumers also have used a laptop and/or desktop computer for customer service vs. a smartphone or tablet -- while 52% of consumers have used or would use Facebook to interact with a company for customer service.
For mobile customer service, smartphone use is currently far exceeds tablet use, with the most valuable mobile capability being the option to request a call back. Conversely, when interacting via email, mobile consumers dislike having to wait too long to get a response.