5 Customer Support Experience Findings You Can’t Ignore

If your subscribers choose to do business with you based on just price and speed, you won’t win. The sticky components to creating repeat business and loyalty can be summed up in two words: customer service.
 

I want to share five important findings from our customer service and CX research that confirm you deliver an amazing subscriber experience—or compel you to do so. But first, let me share some of the more interesting (and humorous) findings from our annual research related to subscribers calling customer support.
 

We surveyed over 1,000 consumers weighted to the U.S. Census for age, gender, ethnicity, and geography and we found:

• 43 percent would rather clean a toilet than call customer support.
  
  
• 79 percent have called support, connected to an automated menu system, repeatedly screamed, “Agent” or “Representative,” and eventually hung up the phone out of frustration.
  
  
• 34 percent have yelled at a customer service agent.
  
  
• 21 percent have cursed at a customer service agent. (Could 79 percent be lying? Just kidding!)
   

As humorous as these findings may be, there is truth to them. Customers, in general, don’t like contacting a support center. They usually call because something isn’t working when they need or want to use their services. The next step is determining what’s wrong and when it will be resolved.
 

With that in mind, here are five findings that our industry can’t ignore:

1. Proactive service: Subscribers want and appreciate proactive service, such as when a company reaches out before they notice a problem. Of the surveyed customers, 89 percent said they expect to be notified of an issue before they notice it, yet only 32 percent have had that experience.
   
   
2. Self-service: An easy-to-use and intuitive self-service option should be a priority. While the phone is still the most popular support method, 60 percent of U.S. consumers try a company’s FAQ section on their website or other self-service options before talking to a human. A basic example is when there’s an outage and the subscriber can see if their address is affected. A self-service app is a helpful tool that adds tremendous value for subscribers. Apps can also send push notifications to subscribers about the progress of the repair or when service has been restored, helping you deliver proactive service.
   
   
3. Respect your subscribers’ time: Six out of ten (61 percent) customers don’t think a company values their time when calling for support. Perhaps you’ve experienced calling for support and spent an unreasonable amount of time on hold, waiting for an agent to resolve an issue or answer a question. Staffing for support has always been tricky. However, options like a call-back feature can help mitigate the frustration of waiting on hold.
   
   
4. Preferred methods of communication: Not all subscribers want to pick up the phone to contact support. While the phone was ranked at the top, additional communication channels include (in order of popularity): online chat (with a live agent), email, texting, an app, and even social media. Should a subscriber choose a direct communication channel over a self-service option, you want to be available on their channel of choice. This doesn’t mean you must be active on all channels, but the more common ones are expected. In addition to a branded app, most support departments offer email and chat support. Remember, subscribers are frustrated if they are on hold for too long, which applies to all communications channels. Ensure you’re responsive on whatever support channels you make available, so you don’t cause additional subscriber frustration.
   
   
5. Be nice: This seems like common sense, but it’s not as common as it should be. Of course, subscribers would like a perfect product/service that never goes down. In the absence of perfection, they will contact you for help. Subscribers want a positive interaction where agents are kind, knowledgeable, and helpful (more so than little or no hold times!). The point is that the experience with your agents is paramount to the success and happiness of your subscribers.

Based on our consumer research, these five concepts emphasize the need for more than just lower prices and faster speeds. A product that meets your subscribers’ needs is important, but just as important—if you want to keep their business—is recognizing the need for proactive service, respecting subscribers’ time, and offering flexible communication options, a convenient self-service solution, and a fundamentally friendly and efficient experience.
 

Shep Hyken is a customer service and CX expert, an award-winning keynote speaker, researcher, and a New York Times bestselling author. Learn more at www.Hyken.com.

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