April 2012
Featured in this insight: IT & telecommunications
Market research discovers Britons want improved online customer service: Live chat software provider Netop has conducted a survey of over 2,000 UK business and consumers which uncovered a lack of availability and quality when it comes to online customer service.
The study showed there is public demand for streamlined live chat to solve customer issues, but most companies are not providing it.
Although consumers want fast, real-time engagement to tackle customer service issues with businesses and prefer doing this online as it avoids phone queues or leaving their home, 93% of UK businesses do not offer live chat as part of their customer experience.
In addition, the survey found that 75% of customers currently have to queue on the phone to receive support, with 73% claiming that being put on hold while on the phone was their biggest gripe and 57% saying they dislike calls that have to be routed between different departments. A further 71% complained they have to wait for a response when trying to resolve issues via email.
A total of 54% of the consumers surveyed agreed that live chat would help with the call centre problem that sometimes occurs when regional or foreign accents are difficult to understand.
CEO of Netop, Kurt Bager, commented: "Live chat resolves almost all the problems of a call centre and does so much more quickly. At the same time it allows businesses to give a personalised service experience making customers feel more valued and bringing them closer to their brand."
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