The findings of new research from Mitel, a global business communications leader, give promising signs for customer experience (CX) and point to areas where changes can be prioritized by IT decision-makers as they look beyond the challenging business climate of today.
More than 4,000 customers in the United States, United Kingdom, France, and Germany were surveyed in the study to gauge the current impact of the pandemic on CX, anticipated them, and find opportunities for organizations to better meet and surpass customer standards in the longer term.
Although since the beginning of COVID-19, the pressures on customer service operations and contact centers, in particular, have increased, many organizations seem to be adapting well. Six out of ten customers have noted and claim they have seen positive CX changes.
The study also validates that with only minor regional variations, the foundations for good and bad CX are mostly universal. Among the top drivers, 55 percent of consumers equated a good CX with polite, supportive, and professional customer representatives. Plus, 45 percent of them said responsiveness and quick service, and 35 percent said communication that informs every step of the way.
In contrast, the results that show bad CX is prominent, where 48 percent of respondents that it is agents transferring their calls multiple times and having to repeat oneself over and over, being placed on hold (46 percent), and having too many steps to navigate (35 percent).
For these networks, the analysis shows a difference between actual usage and preference, where the latter appears lower and suggests that consumers would prefer to use other channels if possible. In-person is the only channel where it is, not surprisingly, higher than actual due to the current environment.
As expected, more than 40 percent of those surveyed also said that their usage of online customer services increased this year. However, more than 70 percent of that number said they would depend more on digital solutions in the future, validating general speculation that as a result of the pandemic, consumer and business patterns are heading towards a permanent change in interaction conduct.
