Average Time To Resolve Problems is Three Times Higher Than Customers Want (zdnet.com)

Businesses seem to be setting the bar for "good" customer service too low, according to a recent study, which could have significant business impact as the customer experience becomes even more vital as customers decide to buy. From a report: Boston, Mass.- based identity and access company LogMeIn recently released a study to analyze the business impact and consumer attitudes of today's customers and their journey to a sale. It surveyed over 5,000 respondents consisting of business leaders and consumers around the globe. Its 2018 AI Customer Experience study shows that over one-third of consumers were not impressed with their customer journey. Over four out of five (83 percent) of consumers citied an average or poor experience, saying that they had at least one issue while interacting with a brand. Conversely, 80 percent of businesses believe their customers would give them a favorable review -- even whilst admitting that less than half of customer queries are resolved during the first interaction. Two-thirds (68 percent) of business respondents agree that their agents struggle with the volume of customer enquiries, and 61 percent of consumers feel that it takes too long for an enquiry to be resolved.

Comments

Re:Shock horror, capitalism sucks

[hey!]

A capitalist can only be as good as its consumers are.

The whole rationale which "proves" that free markets are optimal is based on the assumption that consumers make perfectly rational decisions with perfect information. In that world a consumer would never take an auto loan without comparison shopping, just to drive the car off the lot *today*. If he bought a shoddily built television he'd be making a conscious choice to prioritize short term cash flow over long term expense. And if he signed over his privacy to an online service it would be after careful weighing of the pros and cons.

This is by the way isthe same idealized world in which citizens in a democracy examine each politician's proposals in detail and with a keen critical eye.

As with the old joke about the bear and the running shoes, capitalism and democracy don't have to be perfect, they just have to be better than the alternative. But it's not necessarily given that they are. How much better they are, if at all, depends on us not being gullible and carried away by enthusiasm or fear.