Customers are frustrated, and it has them walking away from companies at an alarming rate. Here’s what’s going on now — and how you can save relationships.
In the last year, about half of all customers have walked out of a store without buying what they intended because they were frustrated with service.
Closer to 60% of customers have ended conversations with customer service pros without getting a resolution because they were frustrated, according to a recent survey by Consumer Reports National Research Center.
Where frustrations lie
What has customers most frustrated? This is what researchers found were their top gripes with service:
- Can’t get a person on the phone (75%)
- Employee is rude or condescending (75%)
- Got disconnected from employee (74%)
- Unable to reach the same person who helped previously (71%)
- Transferred to someone who can’t help or is wrong (70%)
- Company makes it hard to find a customer service number (68%)
- Long wait (66%)
- Have to go through many steps to get help (66%)
- Repeatedly asked for same information (66%), and
- Proposed solution was useless (65%).
Are you giving enough attention?
The bulk of customers’ qualms are related to attentiveness. They don’t feel like they get the fast, focused attention they need. Here’s what they crave, according to Consumer Reports, and how you can deliver.
- Real-time conversations. Customers recognize that the phone isn’t the only way to have fast conversations. More and more customers expect that live chat will be available. If you offer it, only make it available when you have the resources to answer immediately. If that’s only between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m., so be it. It’s better to be available for a limited time than promise chat all the time but unable to deliver on that promise at times.
- Communities. Customers will often settle for attention from other customers. Give them the opportunity to connect and solve problems with people using the same products and services, and experiencing the same hang-ups. Offer them portals from your website where they can interact with other customers. Monitor it for times when you can jump in with some direction or to verify that information they’re sharing is correct and helpful.
- Access. On one level, customers don’t want to jump through hoops to get help. No long lines. No big automated phone menus. Give them options to get faster attention. Post individual email addresses, not just a generic service one. Offer to send them to a manager or product expert when situations become complicated or escalated.
