Have you seen The Customer Experience Factbook?

In this 180+ page report, you'll find all the information and support you need to build a profitable, effective CX Improvement Program that spans every part of your business. You'll be able to implement and manage meaningful and profitable change, and grow your bottom line despite a slowing economy.

Get it on Amazon (Kindle/Print)

Half of service agents admit to botching customer service calls

And outdated technologies are causing customer frustration

The global study, conducted by research firm Savanta, surveyed customer service agents from six countries in the Americas, Europe, and Asia-Pacific to uncover the difficulties they have helping customers and the resulting negative effects on customer outcomes.

The research found that outdated technologies were causing customer-facing staff a number of headaches, leading to frustration for both agents and the customers they serve.

These included:

• Accuracy of information
  Only half (51%) of agents say they have full confidence they accurately take down customer information when manually entering it into systems. Nearly two thirds (64%) say they sometimes become distracted while taking down customer information and are unable to be 'present' and fully understand their customer's needs as a result. Of this number, more than one in three (37%) say it happens either 'all the time' or 'often', making manual data entry errors even more likely.
• Existing systems harming speed of response
  Respondents see slow resolution of issues as the leading frustration for their customers, with nearly 40% citing it as a problem. When asked what is responsible for slowing them down, over half (54%) of respondents blame the need to switch between applications to enter customer information. A similar percentage (51%) say they are slowed down by having to search systems to find the information for the customer. Half of all respondents say it takes them between 10 and 30 minutes just to resolve simple, everyday customer queries, which leads, in turn, to customer frustration.
• A lack of relevant training
  More than half (51%) of respondents do not feel they've been given the training they need to operate as the 'voice' of their organization and a true brand ambassador. Almost half (43%) said they had not received sufficient training to search relevant knowledge spaces on behalf of customers to be able to find the answer to their question. Meanwhile, more than one in three (36%) contact center workers report a lack of training is also responsible for the second largest cited customer frustration - contact center staff being unable to provide the best, most empathetic responses.

The overwhelming majority of respondents said that embracing new technologies to help counter these issues would significantly improve their working lives. Eighty-three percent said they would benefit from all apps they use being available on one screen, while 76% said their jobs would be made easier by not having to copy and paste information between screens.

Sixty-nine per cent also feel that eliminating the need to manually fill out forms would make a positive difference in improving their working life, while 87% said the same of being able to immediately access knowledge centers that would allow them to answer customer queries quickly and directly.

According to Sabrina Atienza, director of product management for Pegasystems, "Over the last two years, customer expectations have skyrocketed, to the point where exceptional service is now demanded as standard across every interaction. It's no longer seen as going 'above and beyond' to provide quick, context-aware, empathetic responses - it is expected. As expectations continue to rise, organizations must prepare themselves by investing in the right solutions to deliver the outcomes their customers not only demand, but also deserve - or risk being left behind."

Have you seen The Customer Experience Factbook?

In this 180+ page report, you'll find all the information and support you need to build a profitable, effective CX Improvement Program that spans every part of your business.

You'll be able to implement and manage meaningful and profitable change, and grow your bottom line despite a slowing economy. Grab this goldmine of easily adaptable and up-to-date strategies, walk-throughs, trends, technologies, research, suppliers and partners, plus all the supporting arguments you need to build a solid CX strategy.

While most marketers could list maybe a dozen key points for improving their brand's Customer Experience (CX), the researchers and writers at The Marketing Factbook have identified FORTY main 'CX Keys' which will help you drive your customers to new levels of delight, loyalty, advocacy and profitability.

The areas in which customers have direct contact with your organization are perhaps the most obvious places in which CX improvements can be made, and this report addresses all 24 of these 'Direct CX Keys', applicable to offline and online businesses alike.

At the same time there are many other areas that indirectly affect CX (such as the supply chain, policies and processes) in which every business can make simple but far-reaching improvements. This report guides you through the problems and solutions for all 16 of these 'Indirect CX Keys', many of which are often forgotten or under-played even in the best CX strategies.

Get it on Amazon (Kindle/Print)