UJET Research Reveals Chatbots Increase Frustration for 80% of Consumers

Consumers find many chatbots a ‘waste of time’ as ineffective self-service options continue to sabotage the customer experience

UJET, Inc., the world’s most advanced contact center platform, released new research revealing that 80% of consumers report increased frustration levels from using customer service chatbots.

The research, based on data collected from nearly 1,700 consumers over the past 12 months, reveals ineffective automation technology such as chatbots is causing brands to lose credibility with their consumers. Key findings include:

• 80% of consumers who have interacted with a chatbot said it increased their frustration level
• 78% of consumers were forced to connect with a human after failing to resolve their needs through an automated service channel
• 63% indicated that their interaction with a chatbot did not result in a resolution
• 72% felt that using a chatbot for customer service was a waste of time
• More than half of consumers (54%) believe that a phone call with a live agent provides the fastest resolution and best overall customer experience
• Brands could significantly improve customer experience by ensuring problems are resolved on the first contact (73%)

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“Our findings highlight the challenges brands face with implementing automation to decrease wait times, improve first contact resolution, and increase customer satisfaction and loyalty. The key to success is achieving the right marriage between virtual and human agents in managing those consumer interactions.”

“Brands cannot provide great customer service through simply adopting automation. Leaders must be intentional on how they design and implement automation to add value to the consumer, service workers and the business’s bottom line,” said Senior Director of Corporate Communications, Justin Robbins, who led the research for UJET. “Our findings highlight the challenges brands face with implementing automation to decrease wait times, improve first contact resolution, and increase customer satisfaction and loyalty. The key to success is achieving the right marriage between virtual and human agents in managing those consumer interactions.”

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UJET’s previous research showed 87% of consumers will spend less or stop spending money altogether with brands who skimp on customer service. In addition, research by PWC indicates that 32% of customers will switch companies after a single negative experience and 43% would pay more for greater convenience. As companies prepare for a recession and reduce headcount in the customer service department, UJET’s research comes as a strong warning that leveraging automation alone could have stark impacts.

UJET provides advanced, industry-leading contact center automation solutions through conversational AI, topic modeling, and machine learning, powered by Google Cloud’s CCAI Insights. AI-Modeled Interaction Design allows brands to analyze up to 100,000 customer service interactions, flag the most common friction points and identify the best candidates for self-service and automation. This technology has reduced calls to in-store employees by 50% for one UJET customer, freeing up more than 100 employees to focus on high value tasks.