Zendesk just announced the results of a global consumer study on omnichannel customer service. The results show plenty of room for improvement, despite years of talk about multi/omni-channel service.
For starters, while two-thirds have purchased using multiple channels, just 7% of respondents said they were extremely satisfied with omnichannel service, lagging behind sales. Consumer think brands are more willing to invest in a good omnichannel sales experience… perhaps because there’s an obvious motivation. Selling something.
In customer service, consumers value a speedy response and resolution, with 59% expecting resolution within 30 minutes, when the phone is used. Email and social get more latitiude.
For those thinking that self-service channels will take over customer service, you’ll be disappointed to learn that the phone and email continue to be the go-to channels, each used by about half of respondents in the past 6 months. And if the first contact doesn’t work, the second one is most likely to be the phone.
The problem this poses for brands is that both the phone and email are much more costly. Unfortunately, it doesn’t that these more labor-intensive service channels will die off anytime soon. Despite all the advances in digital self-service, there is still something special about connecting with a real human being!
Source: Zendesk
