{"id":15272,"date":"2019-02-08T15:00:31","date_gmt":"2019-02-08T15:00:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/?p=15272"},"modified":"2024-11-28T09:13:57","modified_gmt":"2024-11-28T09:13:57","slug":"new-data-shows-what-customers-hate-when-calling-businesses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/new-data-shows-what-customers-hate-when-calling-businesses\/","title":{"rendered":"New Data Shows What Customers Hate When Calling Businesses"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/clutch.co\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Clutch<\/a> have surveyed 501 people who called a business more than three times in the past six months to learn what they expect from telephone customer service.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>When asked to rank their top three frustrations with telephone customer service, the largest percentage of people chose being kept on hold (57%), followed by rude service (52%), and automated phone menus (51%).<\/p>\n<img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-15275\" src=\"https:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/surveyres.jpg\" alt=\"Clutch customer service survey\" width=\"598\" height=\"637\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/surveyres.jpg 598w, https:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/surveyres-282x300.jpg 282w, https:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/surveyres-563x600.jpg 563w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 598px) 100vw, 598px\" \/>\n<p>The data comes from a new <a href=\"https:\/\/hs-3972656.t.hubspotemail.net\/e2t\/sc2\/MmZ-8ykk1d3W4YmhzJ8MT4HsW6XWVkq5j1KrHVQCcTj5ZvDHXdBzP8Q04\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">survey report<\/a>\u00a0that explores why businesses must prioritize speed when managing their phone\u00a0lines, and how they can implement improvements.<\/p>\n<p>Businesses should think both analytically and creatively about how they can reduce\u00a0phone hold times. To approach the issue analytically, businesses should collect data\u00a0on their hold times, asking questions such as:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>When are customers on hold the most?<\/li>\n<li>What departments receive the most calls?<\/li>\n<li>What questions do customers most commonly ask?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Some creative options for reducing hold times include calling the customer back when\u00a0they are at the front of the line instead of making them wait on the phone, or\u00a0offering them an option to schedule a call back for a more convenient time.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Customers Prioritize Efficiency When Calling Businesses<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>People most often ranked an \u201cefficient resolution to my issue\u201d (79%) as the trait<br \/>\nthey value most when calling business.<\/p>\n<p>To increase efficiency, businesses can consider balancing their telephone customer\u00a0service with other AI-based solutions, such as chatbots.<\/p>\n<p>Shep Hyken, customer service and experience expert, speaker, and author, said that\u00a0chatbots work well for questions such as \u201cWhere\u2019s my package?\u201d or \u201cI want to check\u00a0my bank balance.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou don\u2019t need to talk to a human to answer those questions and often, it\u2019s more\u00a0efficient to do so with a digital format,\u201d Hyken said.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Businesses Shouldn\u2019t Abandon Their Phone Lines<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Given all the new communication options available, some businesses may be tempted to\u00a0give up on their phones, directing all customers to chatbots, social media, or\u00a0contact forms.<\/p>\n<p>Yet, phones remain a critical customer communication channel for complex or<br \/>\npersonalized inquiries.<\/p>\n<p>In the past six months, people most commonly called a business to fix an issue<br \/>\n(24%), ask a question (23%), or make an appointment (19%).<\/p>\n<p>The data highlights how understanding customer priorities across various channels can improve overall service delivery. This principle also extends to how businesses approach digital growth strategies, like managing their social media presence. For instance, <a href=\"https:\/\/views4you.com\/buy-instagram-followers\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">buying Instagram followers<\/a> can be an effective way to create a strong initial impression, increasing visibility and encouraging organic engagement. While businesses aim to improve phone-based customer service, they must also recognize the importance of maintaining robust and credible profiles across all platforms to build trust and attract more customers.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow many times will you contact a business and they\u2019ll send you a link to their FAQ\u00a0page, and you say, \u2018I already checked that page, or otherwise, I wouldn\u2019t be\u00a0messaging you,\u2019\u201d said Nathan Strum, CEO of Abby Connect, a virtual receptionist and telephone answering service provider. \u201cIt\u2019s\u00a0frustrating when people don\u2019t think their issue falls into a certain category,\u00a0even if in the end, it might. They want to feel heard.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/clutch.co\/bpo\/virtual-assistant\/resources\/how-improve-telephone-customer-service?utm_source=hs_automation&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_content=69581496&amp;_hsmi=69581496&amp;_hsenc=p2ANqtz-93Adxz71MI9XyWDoLeIaL4FgJ-9TCmjaKVYLDxwNpb55ZXlWuqYBScZo7dDrBzLS2e9NaHbs2BVgiAeEq12qiV_DOigpZd_jW3GkIcrz_meOz2v20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">You can read the full report here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Clutch have surveyed 501 people who called a business more than three times in the past six months to learn what they expect from telephone customer service..<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":108,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15272"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/108"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15272"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15272\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":50465,"href":"https:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15272\/revisions\/50465"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15272"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15272"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15272"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}