consumer behaviour & preference customer-driven understanding to create the contact centre

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1 understanding consumer behaviour & preference to create the customer-driven contact centre

2 In an increasingly virtual world, the contact centre continues to be a critical point of interaction between organisations and consumers. The variety of communication channels available to consumers is growing, but is this impacting the contact centre function and customer experience? This short report presents new insights into how consumers want to interact with companies in today s multichannel world and why*. Read on to understand consumer needs today, so you can create the customer-driven contact centre of tomorrow. *Based on a survey of 2,000 UK adults carried out by Vision Critical in September 2013

3 HOW ARE CONSUMERS CONTACTING BRANDS? Multichannel is the name of the game, as consumers are interacting with companies and brands in a variety of ways. is by far the most popular channel, used by 72%, followed by telephone (49%). 72 In contrast, live chat and social media are currently used by only one in 10 people However, the signs are that internet-based channels will grow in importance, with one in five adults under 35 already using Facebook or Twitter to contact brands Live Chat Social Media Post In Person Telephone

4 WHAT MAKES PEOPLE SELECT A SPECIFIC CHANNEL? The reasons why people want to contact a company have a big impact on the channel they choose. The vast majority want the process of interacting with a brand to be straightforward and turn to website forms to make payments, send an enquiry about a product or service or to update account details. However, in times of frustration the telephone is the clear channel of choice, with sending an the preferred way to formalise a complaint. Telephone Website Form Make a formal complaint Voice frustration Enquire about a product or service, make a payment, update account details

5 WHAT S MOST IMPORTANT WHEN CONTACTING A COMPANY? The personal touch is the most important factor when contacting brands, cited by 54% of consumers. Whether it s live chat, an response or avoiding automated telephone services, consumers want to know they re interacting with a real person. Fast and effective service is also the order of the day, with getting a quick response cited by 49%, closely followed by having a query resolved immediately (44%). Being able to speak to someone on a call still ranks highly for 40% of people contacting brands. 1. Interacting with a real person, not an automated service 3. Having a query resolved immediately 2. Getting a quick response

6 WHAT ARE THE CONSUMER PET HATES? The vast majority (84%) of consumers say they are happy for the telephone to be the only channel on offer. But when contacting a brand, it is telephone that is clearly the biggest cause of irritation. Premium rate numbers, off-shore contact centres and automated services rank highly in the list of frustrations. In contrast, only 13% of people ranked not receiving a response to an or live chat message in their top five pet hates. Half of consumers typically use the telephone to contact brands, but it is also the channel of choice to voice frustration. Get this experience wrong and companies could pay the price.

7 WHAT HAPPENS IF CONTACT CENTRES GET IT WRONG? The impact of delivering a poor experience to consumers who contact an organisation is clear - they won t want to contact you again. Over a third of people questioned (34%) have already changed supplier due to a poor experience when getting in touch with their contact centre and a further 40% said they would if they had a bad experience. While consumers have little control over some organisations they need to contact, such as their local council, it s a warning for a wide range of others companies, such as gas and electricity providers, insurance, mobile phone and internet providers. 74 % of people have or would change supplier based on a poor experience with the contact centre

8 FOR MORE INFORMATION: To find out more about how you can create a customer-driven contact centre, visit