Marketers might do an excellent job of generating demand for products and services and converting target audiences into customers, but that can all come undone by a poor frontline customer service experience. According to TCN’s Understanding the Modern Consumer report [download page], 2 in 3 consumers are “very” (27%) or “somewhat” (39%) likely to abandon a brand after a poor customer service experience.
The 66% this year saying they would be likely to turn their backs on a brand is up significantly from 42% last year. In another worrisome trend, half of respondents this year said they had ever posted an online review about a poor customer service experience with a company, with this being up from 42% last year who said they had done so.
Still, there are some positive trends to take note of. This year 55% of respondents said they had ever posted an online review about a great customer service experience with a company, up from one-third (33%) who reported the same last year. Furthermore, 71% said they would be “very” (35%) or “somewhat” (36%) likely to recommend a brand after a great customer service experience.
These results suggest that consumers are slightly more likely to post reviews about good than bad experiences, and likewise are slightly more likely to recommend a brand after a great experience than to abandon one after a poor experience.
More good news is that overall, respondents believe that the coronavirus pandemic impacted customer service for the better, with half saying it made customer service better versus one-quarter who said it made it worse.
When it comes to customer service channels, respondents still prefer to talk to a live agent by phone, with email and online chat following closely. Social media and chatbots are lowest on the list of preferred customer service channels, though consumers responding to a recent survey believed that what makes a brand best-in-class on social is offering great service on the platform. And while chatbots aren’t high on the list of channel preferences, a majority (55%) of the respondents separately said they were either extremely (23%) or somewhat (32%) satisfied when using online chatbots to resolve customer service issues.
For more, download the study here.
About the Data: The results are based on a May survey of 1,000 US adults (18+).
