Customer Service Confidential: Survey Findings Reveal What Representatives Wish Customers Knew Before Calling In

More than 1,200 Arvato customer service representatives share tips, insights to help customers when reaching out to contact centers

VALENCIA, California—December 8, 2017—Leading customer service provider, Arvato today announced survey findings from 1,261 customer service representatives across the globe, revealing what they love about their job, the biggest challenges they face and tips to help customers solve their issues faster. The six top tips for customers to keep in mind include:

1. Pick Up the Phone. While chatting online to resolve an issue is easy (in fact, 32 percent of representatives agree), nothing beats the phone if you have a big problem. Fifty three percent of surveyed representatives say interacting with a customer over the phone is the easiest way to solve a problem. 
2. Don’t Be a Know It All. While swearing or yelling at representatives seems like it would be the worst thing you could do (and 12 percent agree that it is), the most frustrating thing a customer can do, according to 30 percent of representatives, is to think that they already know the answer to the problem before they call.
3. Go Ahead and Escalate. While customer service representatives are empowered and trained to directly solve all of your issues, some more complicated inquiries are best left to a manager. Fifty one percent of representatives agree asking to speak to a manager is the best route for escalating a tricky problem. What won’t help is complaining on social media or calling back and asking to speak to someone else: only three percent of representatives suggest either of these routes.
4. Don’t Be a Jerk.  Overall, 34 percent of representatives say that dealing with unreasonable customers is the most challenging part of their job. Next time, have a friendly attitude, which 26 percent of representatives say is the most helpful thing a customer can do.
5. Hold Your Horses. It’s no secret that patience is a virtue. Twenty one percent of representatives are frustrated with impatient customers, and—rightly so—eight percent dislike getting cut off when they’re speaking. Just remember how patient they are with you next time you don’t have all of your paperwork ready. That only aggravates four percent of representatives.
6. Strike Up a Conversation. Next time you’re dialing in, don’t worry about being too chatty on the phone– only five percent of representatives listed this as an issue.

“We hope this survey sheds light on valuable information to help customers as they reach out to contact centers and partner with our representatives along the way,” said Fara Haron, CEO of CRM Solutions, North America and Philippines, Arvato. “While the job of a customer service representative has always been challenging, advancements in technology are making their roles more complex, and their input and opinions more valuable than ever. We value the work they do on the front-lines each day and the pride they take in helping customers.”

Supplemental visual assets can be found here.

Survey Methodology

Arvato used a third-party provider to determine the findings of its Customer Service Representative Insights Survey. They collected responses over a three-week period from 1,261 of its customer service representatives who work across telephone and chat channels and are based in the United States, Mexico and the Philippines.

About Arvato CRM Solutions

We design, deliver and differentiate customer service on behalf of some of the world’s most respected brands. Arvato CRM Solutions has approximately 45,000 people at more than 100 customer service centers in 27 countries speaking 35 languages and is recognized as a ‘clear leader’ in the global customer services/customer experience (CX) sector¹. It is a part of Arvato, the world’s third largest business process outsourcing (BPO) provider² that provides customer services, supply chain solutions, financial services, and IT solutions, and has total revenues of €3.8 billion.³ Arvato is a division of Bertelsmann.

¹CCO – Service Provider Landscape with PEAK Matrix™ Assessment 2017 by Everest Group June 2017. ²’HfS BPO Top 50’ by HfS Research July 2017; ³ 2016.