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In Customer Service, Speed Is Everything

Speed is now the most crucial attribute of the customer experience. A growing body of evidence shows that we consumers are growing even less tolerant of frustrating experiences and poor service. Many studies attribute the trend to a rising level of impatience among today’s consumers. I often feel impatient, probably more than I should. But I don’t think impatience is entirely accurate. It’s more about time; we don’t want brands to waste our time.

Time is critical

We’re all inundated with work demands, family needs, and the constant distractions of our digital worlds. The study shown below found that 75% of surveyed consumers ranked “fast response times” as the most important attribute of their customer experiences. But think harder about the six other items; each plays a role in respecting our time.

Time is priceless

Jay Baer’s landmark research, the 2022 Consumer Patience Study, found that 64% of people say speed is as important as price.

Overall, brands must catch up as we, the consumers, continue to rapidly evolve. And if companies don’t start catching up now, it will only get more challenging later. Speed of response inspires brand loyalty.

Brands must respect our time

Jay Bear’s research also uncovered that 85% of consumers are more loyal to fast and responsive brands. And if a brand exceeds our expectations, those are the ones who experience the greatest boost in lasting loyalty. He also found that nearly three-quarters of us prefer to use the telephone when contacting a brand. I often expect the quickest resolution via the phone when I need answers from a company. It’s essential for brands to surprise us with rapid response on legacy channels first before trying to close the speed gap with chatbots, SMS, social media, or other emerging channels.

Wasting time impacts everyone, even those trying not to waste our time. Customer service agents work in a highly demanding environment. Our frustration rubs off on them as we become impatient with waiting on hold or for inefficient systems. ^netomi’s study, The Frustrating Reality Of Customer Support in 2022, discovered that 73% of us reported that an agent has been rude. And since many of us turn to social media to vent our frustration, 53% reported shaming a brand for poor service. In a related study, also in 2022, McKinsey found that more than half of us have changed brands as a result of the social media shaming.

73% of consumers report rude agents

It’s time to win back control of time

One thing stands out in this recent data; brands need to know more about us quickly. Where is hold up in wasting our time? What is causing our impatience and frustration? Why wasn’t our issue resolved on the first contact?

To answer these and other questions, it’s typical for companies to send us surveys that measure our overall satisfaction and seek additional feedback. The most common method is to send us an email with a link to a web-based survey. I’m sure you’ve received at least one or two in the past month. Did you open it? If you did, did you click the link? If you clicked the link, did you complete the survey?

Most importantly, how much time passed between your interaction and the email in your inbox? I’m torn between thinking this was a waste of my time and the brand wasting valuable time understanding my issues. It’s a bit of both. Brands must speed up the time it takes to learn about us and our expectations. And do so in a frictionless way that’s fast, efficient, and demonstrates they care about our time.

Automated Voice Surveys by Phone

An automated voice survey by phone is ideal for brands to learn about us quickly and efficiently. When used in a contact center, the survey can automatically kick in at the end of our call. The survey allows us to use our touchpad and voice, to give immediate feedback to the company. Here’s an example of the basic flow below:

When time matters, voice surveys are essential. We can provide feedback immediately after interacting with an agent when our thoughts are still fresh and in the moment. And since we’re already on the phone, it’s using our time effectively. The company receives the results in their Qualtrics dashboard in real-time as soon as we finish the survey. Real-time results help them close the time gap between customer feedback and customer experience insight. It gives companies the advantage they need to win our loyalty through speed and responsiveness.

If you’d like to learn more about how the real-time results of automated voice surveys can help your company, contact us to discover more.

 

about the author

Bill Irvine
CMO, IVR Technology Group

An avid User Experience Evangelist and design junkie, Bill oversees all things marketing, design, and social media for IVR Technology Group. When he’s not doing that, he “unplugs” as a gentleman farmer, carpenter, and executive chef to his wife.

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