If you want to improve the customer experience, focus on the three things customers say frustrate them most.
In a recent Pegasystems survey, customers rated these their biggest issues with service:
- having to wait too long for help (82%)
- having to repeat themselves when switching between service channels or people (76%), and
- not knowing the status of their query (64%)
It’s a big deal
While those might seem like little inconveniences that happen occasionally – and are potentially overlooked by customers – they can seriously hurt business. More than 75% of customers say the level of service is a major determining factor in their loyalty to a company.
“Good customer service can be the difference between success and failure,” says Tom Libretto, chief marketing officer at Pegasystems. “Bad customer service has long been a thorn in the side of consumers, and it’s critical that business leaders and employees collaborate closely and start facing up to the potentially ugly facts of the service quality they are providing before it’s too late.”
3 tactics to improve service
To avoid the issues that frustrate customers most, try these three tactics:
- Focus solely on the issue. Customers are busy and impatient. The research shows they don’t want to be delayed, especially for things service pros “must do” – such as up- or cross-sell or document. Let service pros do what customers ask them to do. Then they can ask customers if they have time to hear about something else or do the required documenting after the issue is resolved.
- Automate sensibly. Customers expect automated responses – and often prefer them. But when their issues are urgent, they want fast access to personal help. Make your contact information easy to find on your website, and give customers quick access to service pros on the phone.
- Use more guidelines, fewer rules. It’s important to be efficient – and it helps if you have protocols such as Problem A is handled one way, Problem B another way and Question C is answered just like this. But customers are more satisfied with outcomes when service pros have some level of empowerment to adapt to individual situations.
