Hansa Research explores importance of customer support to meet expectations

Hansa Research's newest study shows that 47 per cent digitally active Indians sought customer support and service from a company in a 6 month period in 2019 for an issue or complaint. Men are 1.3X times more likely to seek out customer support and service than women. Given how the variety of channels have mushroomed these past few decades including social media, web-chat, self-service kiosks etc, this is definitely a challenge for all companies, who are aiming to provide a seamless customer experience (CX) to their customers.

Room for improving Customer Experience

Amongst customers who sought out customer support or service, 1 in 5 were unhappy with their recent experience while dealing with the customer support and service of a company.

Using the call centre of a telecom company for customer service/ support, can end up being a trying experience. Getting a complaint registered between call drops, wait time to talk to a customer care executive, limited empowerment the executive has and the inflexible processes followed by them, can be traumatic for a customer.

On the other hand there are technology and e-commerce companies where the support and processes are in most cases aligned to a seamless CX, especially in cases of where support is required for return / exchange. Traditionally, even the hospitality sectors have scored well on Customer Support and Service. When reaching out for support/service for an issue/ concern, minimal effort for the customer needs to be the mantra for providing customer service.

Close to 3 out 10 customers, listed customer support/service and access to it, as one of the reasons for reducing or having stopped usage of a service/ product. This definitely firms up the role of customer support/ service in driving loyalty to a brand.

Channels that can be focused on

It is important for every business, to clearly understand the channels preferred by customers for their specific need. There is an increase in usage of digital channels predicted over the next few years, as customers develop familiarity and comfort across demographics and technology infiltrates further. However, it is also being increasingly understood that the need for human interaction is here to stay for now. Digital & technology intervention need to complement customer impacting processes and drive efficiencies for both businesses and customers, rather than increase customer effort.

Look at how some of the financial companies end up using IVR. Before the menu starts, there is promotional message for a loan amount, followed by 10 other options. Sometimes, one is struggling to find an option that connects you to a human. Imagine, if the customer is calling to report a stolen / misuse of his/her card. Is that delivering on CX?

Use of Traditional Channels

Exclusive usage of traditional channels is 1.5X times higher than new age customer support channels.

Close to 1 in 5 customers relied on using a mix of traditional and new age channels. Close to 1 in 2 customers, spoke to a customer support agent at the Call centre. This makes Call Centre, the most used channel for customer service. It also remains the first choice of contact customers.

New Technology Channels i.e. Social Media

16 per cent used email as a channel for reaching out to a company for an issue or complaint, making it the most used digital channel for customer service.

Social media (4 per cent) still ranks low as a frequented channel of contact, in case of an active issue or complaint, even amongst digitally active consumers.

Traditional vs. Social Media

Customers who used traditional channels exclusively rated their experience 1.5X times better than those who used new age channels exclusively

Customer pain points in Customer Support and Service Channels

Accessibility to customer support (people / call centre) – was the most cited difficulty by customers. 70 per cent of the customers, who tried to reach out to a company for customer support & service, listed ‘ACCESSIBILITY’ as an issue. Also, having to make contact multiple times to solve the issue and difficulty in getting to speak to a human were also pointed by customers. My recent futile experience to reach out to a ‘human’ for customer support for making a complaint about a ride hailing service, was an exercise that took me close to 2 days and has also led me to reduce my usage from that particular brand to revenge my inconvenience

Current State and Future opportunity for Social Media

Social Media is definitely prevailing strong in India. In 2019, 60 per cent of the digitally active Indians reached out to a company via Social Media for seeking out information. However, while 7 in 10 customers believe it is an effective channel for customer service. It still remains a low frequented channel in case of an issue or complaint.