The current state of the industry
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customer service benchmark report indicates that 42% of support agents cannot resolve customer inquiries due to outdated or disconnected systems.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.
Agent systems
#AgentSystems
42%
Global service desk FCR
#FirstContactResolution
The average net first contact resolution (FCR) for service desks worldwide is about
74%
MetricNet
Average global CSAT
#GlobalCSAT
The average global CSAT benchmark that includes all industries is
86%
Geckoboard
Annual CSR turnover rate
#CSRTurnoverRate
The average annual turnover rate for a customer service representative (CSR) is
29%
Average CES
#CES
#CustomerEffortScore
The averagy customer effort score is
5.5CES
Average global NPS
#GlobalNPS
The global average net promoter score (NPS) is
+32
Surveymonkey
Cost per ticket resolution
#CPR
Support team CPR ranges from $2.93 to $49.69, with the average ticket costing
$15.56
MetricNet
Average cost per minute
#CostPerMinute
The average cost per minute for handling a ticket is
$1.60
MetricNet
Switching channels
#SwitchingChannels
49%
of consumers, on average, use three to five different communication channels to contact customer service.
Microsoft
Customer portal use
#CustomerPortal
Less than
10%
of companies use a customer portal.
LiveAgent
Query escalation
#QueryEscalation
25%
of chats and 20% of phone calls are escalated to emails, and 5% emails are escalated to phone calls.
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:
- You improve your first contact resolution (The average net FCR for service desks worldwide is about 74%.)
- You won’t waste time logging in and out of multiple systems to provide your customers with the best service (80% of live chat agents need multiple systems to get the information they need.)
- Your customers won’t need to send you multiple messages to reach you (Customers send an average of 1.15 messages to customer support before receiving a response.)
- Your customers won’t have to hound you down on multiple channels (40% of millennials wait 60 minutes before contacting businesses on other channels.)
- No queries get lost or ignored (50% of customer queries go unanswered.)
- You’ll decrease your ticket resolution costs (Support team cost per resolution ranges from $2.93 to $49.69, with the average ticket costing $15.56 and the average cost per minute totaling $1.60.)
- You’ll provide 24/7 support, especially during live chat and call center peak hours (11 am-3 pm for live chat and 11 am for call centers.)
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.
Solving problems independently
#SolvingProblems
81%
Fastest, average, and slowest service response times
#CustomerService
The fastest response time to customer service is
1 minute
the average is 10 minutes to 12 hours, and the slowest is 8 days.
Super Office
Live chat peak hours
#PeakHours
Live chat peak hours are from
11 am
-
3 pm
Zendesk
Call center peak hours
#PeakHours
The majority of inbound calls happen between
7 am
-
7 pm
local time range, with peaks at around 11 am.
Talk Desk
Customer’s response time expectations
#ResponseTime
12%
of customers expect a response within 15 minutes or less.
Super Office
Response time expectations
#ResponseTime
46%
of customers expect companies to respond faster than 4 hours.
Super Office
How long millennials wait for a response before using another channel
#MillenialsWaiting
40% of millennials wait
60min
before contacting businesses on other channels.
The Northridge Group
Number of messages customers send before they receive a response
#CustomerSupport
#ReceivingAResponse
Customers send an average of
1.15
messages to customer support before receiving a response.
LiveAgent
Customer churn
#CustomerChurn
1 in 3
customers will leave a brand they love after just one bad experience.
PwC
Live chat agent system
#LiveChatAgentSystem
80%
of live chat agents need multiple systems to get the information they need.
CCW Digital
Unanswered queries
#CustomerQueries
50%
of customer queries go unanswered.
Eptica
Table of content
Customer service statistics
Call center statistics
Help desk statistics
Live chat statistics
Knowledge base statistics
Social media service statistics
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