COVID Reshapes Traditional Customer Service as Contact Center Traffic Surges and Consumers Voice Frustration
Uniphore, an early leader in Conversational Service Automation (CSA), announced results from its latest COVID-era survey that underscores how challenges facing customer service centers are resulting in increased consumer frustration and missed opportunities for brands to build trust and loyalty. The report also shows consumer acceptance for new technology that can help call center agents and better serve the immediate needs of the customer.
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“Contact centers are a lifeline for support on critical issues from healthcare to travel to commerce and one of the most powerful ways brands build customer loyalty. But today, many consumers are feeling muted and undervalued at the same time as call center agents are feeling overwhelmed and under resourced”
Call centers and customer experiences are a bellwether for consumer confidence and have become increasingly critical during the pandemic as an opportunity to build customer connections. The survey shows that 59 percent of consumers are likely to recommend a company based on a positive contact center experience, which is more important now than ever. Customers are increasingly making decisions based on their experiences with an organization. However, the survey also shows that consumers are not feeling heard or valued through the majority of these interactions:
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- Since the start of the pandemic, hold times have increased 50%. More than half (53%) of callers waited more than 30 minutes to get a response, whereas earlier in the pandemic, only 26% of callers waited more than 30 minutes to get a response.
- Consumers are most frustrated with long hold times (47%) and lack of clear information from agents (20%).
- 1 in 4 consumers did not get their questions solved the first time when reaching out to a call center.
“Contact centers are a lifeline for support on critical issues from healthcare to travel to commerce and one of the most powerful ways brands build customer loyalty. But today, many consumers are feeling muted and undervalued at the same time as call center agents are feeling overwhelmed and under resourced,” said Umesh Sachdev, CEO and Co-founder of Uniphore. “We have the ability to change this and empower call center agents with technology and support that enables them to truly hear the voice of the customer and deliver personalized and impactful answers and support.”
