As Aussies find themselves spending an increasing amount of time on hold to customer service teams, research from the Qualtrics XM Institute shows only 55% of consumers say their issues were fully resolved during their most recent interaction and just 33% were fully satisfied with the wait time.
Drawing on insights from more than 1,100 consumers in Australia, the Qualtrics XM Institute study reveals the extent to which frontline customer service teams are impacting customer satisfaction, spend, and trust in the country. Even after a long wait to talk to an agent, empathy can go a long way toward saving an interaction and retaining trust.
Having personable and helpful service agents is among the most impactful drivers of customer satisfaction, and findings show how for many customers these capabilities make a bigger positive difference than wait times. Reinforcing the importance of customer experience, the study also found customers who are satisfied with the overall customer service experience are more likely to purchase more, more likely to trust the organisation, and more likely to recommend[1].
Better enabling frontline agents is a significant opportunity for organisations to improve their customer experience in Australia, with 39% fully satisfied with the helpfulness of the agent, 31% fully satisfied with the empathy demonstrated, and 28% fully satisfied with the knowledge they demonstrate.
“With poor customer experiences putting more than $83 billion at risk in Australia[2], organisations need to prioritise enabling and empowering their frontline teams to resolve issues in a timely and effective manner. At a time when consumers are more careful about their spending, have unprecedented choice, and increasing expectations, organisations that fail to address this gap risk losing their customers forever,” said Bruce Temkin, Head of the Qualtrics XM Institute.
Aussies still prefer human-to-human interactions
Over half of Australians prefer to complete common customer service interactions using one of three human interaction channels, emphasising the need to better enable frontline employees. The most preferred channel is meeting with someone in person (28%), closely followed by talking to someone on the telephone (25%). Around one in five consumers say they prefer self service options via computers (21%) or mobiles (17%), with talking to someone on the computer the least preferred option (9%).
Consumer preferences are also impacted by the type of interaction, with talking to someone on the phone the overwhelming choice when trying to resolve billing issues (48%), receiving technical support (35%), and scheduling a medical appointment (38%). In contrast, self-service options are the most popular choice for transactional engagements like booking airline tickets (63%), getting a status update on orders (55%), and choosing a new mobile phone plan (44%).
[1] Compared to unsatisfied customers.
[2] $56 billion US