10 hard-hitting customer service stats (and what to do about them)

It certainly isn’t a boring time to be in customer service. Customer demands are changing. Competition for consumer dollars is peaking. And companies are depending on the customer service team to be the frontline for a differentiating CX.

Building the kind of stellar customer service experience that sets your company apart isn’t easy. But it can help to zoom out and see what kind of lessons there are to learn from the wider landscape.

To that end, we’ve compiled 10 significant stats that illustrate where customer service is at, where it’s going and what you can do to improve your own. Let’s dive in:

This is a big one. We’ve been shouting on our soapbox for years about how delivering outstanding CX is no longer a luxury, but a necessity. When customers have an insane amount of options to choose from (which they do), they know that if they aren’t satisfied, they can always try out the competition next door (which they will). It’s up to businesses to take up the challenge and exceed those sky-high customer service expectations.

On the other hand, when customers find a company that clearly takes the time to listen, craft, and deliver an experience that is most relevant to their particular needs, they usually see no reason to stray. This is partly why we see so many companies turning to personalize their customer experiences – because people now demand it.

As much as they were once the peak of convenience, chatbots don’t quite create the wow-worthy customer service experiences that people are looking for. Especially when people are trying to get their questions solved quickly – nothing is quite as responsive as another human being.

This doesn’t mean chatbots are useless (self-service can be great for addressing simple problems), but it means customers should never feel like they have to run through a labyrinth before getting help from your agents.

When help is embedded directly into the customer journey, it’s not just more convenient. It actually sends a message: someone cares enough about their experience to make it easy for them to proceed – no matter what their issue is or where they are on the customer journey. (Pitch alert: Just like how they can get hands-on help in a single click with our Guided CX solutions.)

For every bell curve, there’s the regrettable left side. The laggards, the complacent – those that can’t quite read the changing winds quickly enough to adapt as an organization. The businesses that make up that $35.3 billion in missed CX opportunities probably do care about their customers – they just didn’t understand how much of a priority great CX needs to be these days.

With all of the tech that’s nestled itself into our lives, genuine human connections have taken a backseat to “optimized” interactions that are designed to move everyone along as quickly as possible. 

But video support has seen such a burst of life because it can elevate a simple problem-solving interaction into something that builds relationships: a moment where another person is truly looking out for you. (And ironically, video chat can lead to even more speedy problem-solving due to the body language and non-verbal cues.)

It’s never been easier for customers to tell the rest of the world about experiences they have with a business. But when those experiences frustrate them, they tend to get a lot louder about it. Customers tell an average of 9 people about positive experiences, but an average of 16 people about negative experiences. It’s another reason why polishing up your CX should be at the top of your priority list – to avoid horror stories and instead create champions for your brand.

Happier employees lead to happier customers – but the relationship doesn’t end there. Employees that are more empowered to help people in different ways, with more customer data available to them, using simple, easy-to-access tech – that’s where the link between employee experience and customer experience truly shines. 

So if you have oodles of different service tech strewn through different systems, consider unifying them, streamlining access and making it as easy as possible for your people to help people.

The golden rule of customer service today: “Just don’t make them call back.” We’ve written about the role of First Call Resolution and how it eclipses Average Handle Time in terms of priority – but this stat really hammers it home.

Succeeding here comes back to building that customer-agent connection: making it simple for people to get the help they need. If customers have to click through a slew of menus to reach a human being, they’re likely to be frustrated and less willing to walk someone through their problem. (This is also where screen sharing and cobrowsing solutions can make explaining complex issues way, way easier.)

This might be a startling stat to some, but as we head into uncertain market conditions, that pressure to increase Customer Lifetime Value will likely only increase. Some companies are already getting ahead, equipping their customer service team with the skills necessary to generate value to customers and companies alike.

As consumer spending takes a downturn, churn becomes a lot more expensive for companies. It’s no wonder, then, that customer retention rockets to the top of the priority list – and customer service teams are at the forefront of it all. The lesson here is to double down on building the kind of customer experience that doesn’t just keep customers around, but turns them into advocates for your brand. (And no ad is quite as effective as a glowing recommendation from a trusted friend.)

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And there you have it. Hopefully these stats remind you of how big an impact customer service has on the business and leave you motivated to do something great with yours. If you want an easy way to get started on building a standout customer service experience – check out our Guided CX solutions. With a single click, customers can connect to your agents and solve issues quickly using screen sharing, cobrowsing and video chat.

Curious to see how it works? Request a quick demo here!