Telecoms firms and local authority services are among the worst ranking sectors in the UK for customer service, according to new research.
The report, from Echo Managed Services, quizzed 1,000 people on their contact channel preferences with everyday service providers, unearthing some of their biggest customer service frustrations.
Consumers put telecoms companies bottom of customer service charts, scoring almost 19% less than the next lowest industry.
- Holiday/ Leisure 68.4%
- Financial Services 68%
- Healthcare 66.6%
- Professional Services 65.3%
- Retail 65%
- Trades 64.4%
- Water 62.3%
- Broadband 60.2%
- Energy 58.8%
- Local Authorities 58.1%
- Telecoms 39.2%
Just under a fifth of all respondents believed everyday service providers are generally poor at communicating with customers.
The biggest causes of frustration when speaking to customer service providers were those who:
- Have a poor attitude 100%
- Are unable to provide answers 91%
- Are impolite or disrespectful 88%
- Don’t seem to be listening 88%
- Don’t provide a solution 86%
- Answer with an automated menu 84%
- Don’t answer promptly 78%
- Are inflexible or unwilling to meet specific needs 77%
- Don’t take ownership 72%
- Use jargon 71%
- Don’t seem sure of themselves 65%
- Can’t find customer details quickly 55%
- Aren’t responsive to customers’ feelings 51%
- Aren’t able to suggest other ways to help 49%
- Don’t record customer information quickly and accurately 49%
- Don’t check if customers need additional help 35%
- Don’t use customers name 17%
A further 7.5% cited overseas contact centres and 3% inarticulate call-handling staff as irritating.
The report concludes that while customer contact technology has evolved hugely in recent years, the human touch is still favoured by the majority of consumers.
“While ever-evolving technology is providing us with the potential to reach more customers than ever, in ways that are convenient for them, our report has highlighted that it’s crucial we don’t lose the human touch. Customers are now more empowered than ever to make contact choices which suit them, as a result of the myriad communication channels available to them – from telephone and email, to social media and web self-serve,” said Monica Mackintosh, Customer Services Director at Echo Managed Services.
Author: Megan Jones
Published On: 27th Jan 2016 - Last modified: 18th Dec 2018
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