A fascinating new survey has quantified what might be described as “traditional British reserve”, which is wreaking havoc for businesses attempting to improve CX.
The survey of 1,000 consumers, carried out for Contact Centre software provider, MaxContact, found that nearly a quarter of UK consumers have told a brand they were happy with the service they received when they weren’t. While a whopping 61% believe that UK businesses think their service is better than it is.
The survey is evidence of a major challenge for businesses. Consumers are unhappy with the service they receive, but a large number won’t complain to the brands concerned. Many companies only learn about a customer’s dissatisfaction when they lose their business.
To make matters worse, well over half (55%) of all consumers make excuses to get off the phone with a company representative, giving businesses precious few opportunities to identify and rectify any issues a customer may have. With industries regulated to make consumer switching easy, like Energy, Banking and Telecoms, potentially hit the hardest.
MaxContact CEO Ben Booth said: “These are troubling findings for UK business because it means they aren’t being given the chance to solve a customer’s issue before they walk away, or to improve customer service more generally.
“Without customers telling us what we’re doing wrong, it’s difficult to know what we need to do better, but customers are reluctant to say. That might be because they don’t like confrontation, they don’t want to cause a scene, or they don’t want to have a drawn-out conversation when they’re busy – I think we’ve all been there. But whatever the reason, that British reserve is hampering the attempts of many businesses to be better.”
“It’s not the UK consumers job to tell you what your business is doing wrong, but if you’ve built a rapport and you’re asking for feedback in a way that requires minimal effort, your customers might be more willing to come forward.”