Why Customer Service Has Social Problems
Survey respondents said they’d rather go to the dentist than place a phone call to customer service, and most prefer to engage a business on social media.
Two-thirds of surveyed consumers said they’d use social media when pursuing customer support inquiries if the tools were available.
82% of those surveyed picked Facebook as the top social media platform for interacting with customer service teams.
37% of social media users would post a comment about a positive customer service experience, while 34% would do so about a negative one.
41% check a company’s FAQ first when they have a question, with 34% of these respondents saying they like to find out answers for themselves without anyone’s help.
80% said that getting customer service over the phone is inconvenient, and 56% feel the same way about customer support via email.
One-quarter said they’d rather get their teeth cleaned at the dentist than place a phone call to customer service, and one-fifth say they’d rather go to the Department of Motor Vehicles to get a new ID.
Two-thirds expect a customer-support response within 10 minutes if their inquiry/complaint is made via chat, and 20% have set the same response expectations for inquiries/complaints made through social media.
Nearly nine out of 10 said they’ve had at least one negative customer-service interaction in the past.
On average, it takes three bad support interactions for a customer to stop using a brand, but 22% of Millennials would abandon a company after just one bad interaction.