Table of content
Customer service departments and customer success teams were almost nonexistent until a few years ago. Now, they’re integral parts of every business, no matter how large or small. Unfortunately, due to this apparent rapid change in mentality, many companies lack the resources to provide exceptional customer service. Some businesses fail to deliver even the most basic level of support. For example, Parature’s customer service benchmark report indicates that 42% of support agents cannot resolve customer inquiries due to outdated or disconnected systems. Ultimately, this is frustrating for employees and customers alike, causing both to churn.
LinkedIn reports that customer service representatives have an average turnover rate of 29 percent. As for customer churn, 1 in 3 unhappy customers won’t hesitate to abandon the brands they love after only one negative experience.
The high employee turnover rate degrades customer service quality and increases overhead costs. In addition, companies lose time and money, primarily if they invest in agent training.
Despite this, the future is not bleak. Customer service statistics indicate that the customer satisfaction score benchmark (CSAT) averages 86% across all industries globally. Furthermore, the average customer effort score (CES) is 5.5, indicating that on average, customers do not need to make too much effort to get in touch with businesses.
Last but not least, the global average net promoter score (NPS) is +32. The data indicates that most businesses exceed customers’ expectations. As a result, customers don’t hesitate to recommend the companies they’re satisfied with to family, friends, and colleagues.
#FirstContactResolution
The average net first contact resolution (FCR) for service desks worldwide is about
MetricNet
#GlobalCSAT
The average global CSAT benchmark that includes all industries is
Geckoboard
#CSRTurnoverRate
The average annual turnover rate for a customer service representative (CSR) is
#GlobalNPS
The global average net promoter score (NPS) is
Surveymonkey
#CPR
Support team CPR ranges from $2.93 to $49.69, with the average ticket costing
MetricNet
#SwitchingChannels
of consumers, on average, use three to five different communication channels to contact customer service.
Microsoft
#CustomerPortal
Less than
of companies use a customer portal.
LiveAgent
Based on these global statistics, we can see that many companies meet customer expectations to some extent.
So what exactly are customer expectations? Of course, every customer has unique needs, but they prefer knowledgeable, personalized, hassle-free, and quick service at their core.
Personalized service means that customers want the customer service representative on the line to recognize their name, what purchases they have made previously, and what their last inquiry was.
Next, customers want hassle-free service. The concept of hassle-free customer service interactions encompasses giving customers access to support via many channels. These channels include social media, phone support, messaging apps, email, live chat, and most importantly, self-service portals.
According to Harvard Business Review, 81% of all customers attempt to solve problems independently before reaching out to customer support. However, less than 10% of companies provide a customer portal, forcing customers to create support tickets.
Even though many customer groups have their preferred communication channels, 49% use three to five different channels to contact customer service. Moreover, 25% of chats and 20% of phone calls are escalated to emails, while 5% of emails are escalated to phone calls. Therefore, it’s best to cover all bases and cater to everyone.
Apart from easily accessible assistance, customers also expect quick responses to their queries. Of course, these expectations vary from channel to channel and from industry to industry. For example, 46% of customers expect companies to respond in 4 hours or less, and 12% expect a response within 15 minutes or less. However, according to SuperOffice, the fastest customer service response time is 1 minute. The average is 10 minutes to 12 hours, and the slowest is 8 days, showcasing the considerable differences between expectations and reality. To meet these expectations across all channels, it’s essential to have staff that’s available, informed, and armed with the right tools.
It’s also important to remember that customer support is a marathon, not a sprint. It will always be a challenge to meet your customer’s expectations. It’s simply not possible to make everyone happy. Despite this, you can find opportunities for improvement by setting customer service KPIs and measuring customer support metrics.
With this in mind, the best tool to add to your arsenal is help desk software.
Having a help desk software will ensure that:
If you don’t employ the right tools, your customers’ satisfaction will decrease. This will lead to lower customer engagement and a drop in sales and revenue.
#CustomerService
The fastest response time to customer service is
the average is 10 minutes to 12 hours, and the slowest is 8 days.
Super Office
#ResponseTime
of customers expect a response within 15 minutes or less.
Super Office
#ResponseTime
of customers expect companies to respond faster than 4 hours.
Super Office
#CustomerSupport
#ReceivingAResponse
Customers send an average of
messages to customer support before receiving a response.
LiveAgent
#CustomerChurn
customers will leave a brand they love after just one bad experience.
PwC
#LiveChatAgentSystem
of live chat agents need multiple systems to get the information they need.
CCW Digital
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