As the COVID-19 pandemic continued to cause significant disruption at the beginning of 2020 and, now, as we move into 2021, the entire globe watched on helpless as retail storefronts, doctor’s surgeries, service providers and more found themselves shuttering their physical locations and being forced to transition to virtual options. In doing this, the contact centre suddenly became the only way for businesses and service providers to interact with their customers and service users.
With this in mind, a new report commissioned by Five9’s Customer Service Index has found that a staggering half of the population of the US have only interacted with businesses through their contact centres during the pandemic.
The study also found that despite the speedy and devastating mass business closures that subsequently paved the way to more calls than usual, most organisations were able to continue servicing their loyal customers with little impact on the customer experience itself. That said, the results of the report revealed that some substantial consumer behavioural changes are here to say.
Here’s a glance at some of the results:
- 52%of consumers said the contact centre agent is the only company representative they’ve interacted with during the pandemic, illustrating the critical nature of a smooth-running system
- 32%of consumers say they reach out to contact centre more now (during COVID-19) than before
- 38%of respondents left brands they were previously loyal to during the pandemic
- Grocery (39%), Food delivery (30%) and clothing (27%) ranked highest among categories consumers purchased online for the first time
- 78%of respondents are extremely or somewhat likely to continue shopping online once the pandemic is over
Finding the Right Answer
Another interesting aspect of the report was its findings on customer interactions with agents. The study concluded that while consumers don’t want to have to wait a long time to reach a representative, they also don’t mind spending more time chatting with an agent if it results in getting the information or answer they’re looking for. Additionally, when it comes to great customer service, the most important factor is the ability to provide customers with the right answer even if it takes more time.
Channel Choices for Customers
Options available for today’s digital consumers and businesses must provide the consumers’ preferred channels for reaching out for customer service was another fascinating finding. The phone continues to be the leading channel of choice across all age groups, followed by email and omnichannel options. Phone interactions are especially preferred among older participants, but over half of Gen X respondents (born after 1996) as well as 40% of both Gen Z and Millennials (born after 1981) also prefer the phone.
Resolution Time
Up to 11% of respondents feel that the number 1 issue with poor customer service is when a company representative or call handler is unable to answer their question quickly. A large majority of respondents expect their customer service issues to be resolved fast, with a staggering 73% believe that should happen in 15 minutes or less and 83% expect resolution to take no more than half an hour.
