What customers want - the study
It seems that every week there is a new study coming out, telling us the incredible news that customers want to have their issues solved quickly and efficiently. Oh, and they want to be treated with respect.
Were we really unaware of this?
Reuters has just published the following results of a survey about what annoys customers the most.
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What screams out from this list is the following:
- Customers don't want to wait. Five of the complaints involve the words "wait," "boring" or "too many."
- Customers want to be treated with respect. Three of the top five complaints relate to being able to get a helpful solution in a respectful manner.
When customers say they can't get a human on the phone, what they generally mean is that the phone system isn't solving their issue more efficiently than they believe a human could. And judging from the studies that show that a majority of people prefer self-service for simple tasks, what this study is really saying is that most companies have IVRs or other automated systems that are badly designed and that don't address their customers' needs in an efficient and respectful way.
So to avoid that #1 reason customers get annoyed--not being able to get a human on the phone--try redesigning your IVR so that routine tasks can be done within four minutes 24/7, and everyone else can get to an agent quickly. Then survey your customers and ask them if they feel their issues are being solved efficiently and if they are being treated respectfully. I bet you dollars to donuts the ones using the self-service IVR will say they were treated respectfully!
