What Customers Want in 2011 - Part I
21 Dec, 2010
By: Mike CholakAs 2010 winds down, many companies already have their plans in place for customer engagement in the coming year. But before pushing the “go” button, take a moment to ask: “Does the plan really address what customers expect of the service experience?” Don’t guess – be certain.
Recently Convergys conducted research of customer attitudes toward service offered by industry leaders in communications, technology, banking and financial services, retail and e-commerce, and health care. Our findings reveal that customers today have higher expectations that companies must address in order to keep their business. Among the key takeaways: Listen to the customer.
#1: Focus on the quality of your customer service and the quality of your product or offering – not just price.
Despite recessionary financial constraints, consumer emphasis on price has decreased since 2008 and 2009. Consumers increasingly demand value, which they define as the best possible combination of product and service at the “right” price.
#2: Listen to the voice of the customer and amplify it throughout your organization. Your employees need to be in sync with customers on the current state of service.
Nearly 8 out of 10 customers say that the quality of customer service provided by companies has stayed the same or gotten worse in the past year. In contrast, 5 out of 10 employees at those same companies think service has improved.
#3: Make it easy to reach live agents in channels of the customer’s choosing, and prepare and empower your employees to provide first-contact resolution.
Over 6 out of 10 customers said it was “hard” to deal with a company because their issue was not resolved during the first contact. More than 4 out of 10 complained that it was difficult to reach a service representative.
#4: Service is an investment in your company and customers. Don’t give in to temptations to cut costs at the expense of delivering the service experience that customers expect.
In response to the recession, most organizations have reduced their investment in their customer care operations, as reported both by executives and employees. As a result, customer service employees reported an 8 percent decline in their preparedness to deliver the right customer service experience. Most notably, employees were 11 percent less likely to say they had the necessary tools to solve customer’s issues, compared to results captured in 2009.
Customers express a correlated sense of decline in service in the form of: more bad experiences, fewer resolutions and registering greater defection rates. The adage of “penny wise, but pound foolish” is very relevant here – customers are placing significantly more emphasis on customer care. If care erodes so, too, does a company’s customer base; the two are more linked now than ever before. Companies looking to strategically cut costs should think twice before making across-the-board investment reductions in their customer care operations, along with their service representatives and the tools and systems that support them.
#5: Make sure you are listening to all the contact channels you’ve deployed or “intended” to support.
Two-thirds (66 percent) of customers are taking the initiative to contact a company after a bad experience, effectively seeking a resolution before they decide whether or not to take their business elsewhere. Today’s consumer has become more vocal (58 percent reported their bad experiences in 2009) as they feel greater empowerment and duress from the economy. The vast majority (71 percent) are contacting live agents on the phone or in-person, but a meaningful 23 percent are using email and text messaging to vent. And, customers using indirect channels expect a response as much as those who call, and are just as likely to defect if they don’t get a response and/or resolution of their issue. This is no small issue, as 20 percent of the customers who reported their bad experience said they did not even get a response from the company. Ultimately, 57 percent of them decided to take their business elsewhere. Not responding, or slowly responding to these channels can be especially disruptive. Every channel matters and needs tightly defined resolution processes; the customers who use these channels have high expectations on the offered channels being useful, effective and closed looped.
Next Up: Part II on “How to Listen.”
