Top 5 Customer Service Stats You Need To Know

Each year, I do customer service research, surveying more than 1,000 consumers matched to the U.S. census. We discover all kinds of information but, for today’s purpose, I want to share five important findings you need to know to deliver the best subscriber experience.

Before we get into the “top five” list, let’s talk about customer/subscriber service in general. Customers of any business want whatever product or service they buy to work. They want a convenient experience. They don’t want to call for customer support. (By the way, we asked if a customer would rather call customer support or clean a toilet. Thirty-eight percent would rather clean a toilet!) These are common sense. It’s what all of us want.

When a potential subscriber calls for installation, that’s more than just a sales opportunity—it’s an experience opportunity. This goes for support calls as well. There are billing questions, service issues, cable outages, internet speeds, and much more. Every touchpoint is an opportunity for your subscriber to form an opinion, and that’s what makes or breaks your reputation.

So, with that in mind, here are five findings from our annual State of Customer Service and CX study, also known as the Achieving Customer Amazement Report:

1. The State of Customer Service: Our report starts with a general look at service and support. For the past three years, we’ve started with the same question: How important are each of the following service experiences to you? Customers ranked these as their top five:
   
   1. Convenience
   2. Employees who are helpful about products/services
   3. Being able to easily reach the right customer support person
   4. Employees who are kind and helpful
   5. Fast support responses from an email, message, or text
   
   And this is very interesting: Each year the desire for and expectation of these five were higher than the year before (and the year before that). Your subscribers want and expect a good service experience more than ever.
   
   
2. What Your Subscribers Want: When your subscribers call your sales or support department, these are their top three wants:
   
   1. Helpful employees
   2. Being able to reach the right person in customer support
   3. Knowledgeable employees
   
   These simple “wants” may seem like common sense but, unfortunately, they are not always common. They also build confidence, which is important to attract subscribers and keep them.
   
   
3. The Top Three Reasons Subscribers Will Leave You: Once again, you will probably say, “That’s common sense.” If so, why do so many companies fail on these three?
   
   1. Rudeness
   2. Inconsistent information
   3. The inability to connect with someone from customer support
   
   Rudeness continues to be at the top year after year, and here’s something interesting about that. In the 1980s, the White House commissioned a study with the Technical Assistance Research Program (TARP) and found the top reason a customer would leave to do business elsewhere: rudeness or apathy. It’s 40 years later, and nothing has changed.
   
   
4. If You Want Your Subscribers To Trust You More, Deliver a Great Service Experience: Eighty-two percent of Americans say great service increases their trust in a company. There is a saying that people like to do business with people (and companies) they know, like, and trust. Your marketing and advertising can paint a pretty picture and get people to know and like you. But trust is harder to earn. The secret is a consistent and predictable experience every time. Trust is often what gets your subscribers to stay with you—regardless of competitive pricing issues.
   
   
5. Subscribers Love a Convenient, Low-/No-Friction Experience: You can’t ignore the impact of convenience. Eighty-eight percent said convenience was important when deciding where to do business. Fifty-three percent would pay more if they knew they would have a more convenient experience, and 69 percent say a convenient experience alone will make them want to return. All things being equal, the provider that is easier and more convenient to do business with will win the fight for more subscribers.

Shep Hyken is a customer service/CX expert, award-winning keynote speaker, researcher and New York Times bestselling author. As the Chief Amazement Officer at Shepard Presentations, Shep works with clients who want to create amazing customer and employee experiences. For more information and to get a copy of the customer service research report, go to www.hyken.com.