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Title: Research reveals that consumers crave a more sensible approach to customer servi Post by: RealWire on July 03, 2013, 05:17:42 PM Guildford, UK, 3rd July, 2013 – Research reveals that UK consumers don’t value a wholesale approach to customer service in the contact centre, instead wanting different types and levels of technology involvement depending on the nature of interactions and their seriousness. The conclusions come from a report commissioned by Avaya, the global provider of business collaboration and communications services, and Sabio, the contact centre technology specialist, which surveyed 2,000 UK consumers.
The results show that businesses are missing an opportunity to gain competitive advantage through their strategic approach to customer service. Consumers want more stringent technology and automation for more sensitive interactions, but not for all of them. For example, 81% said they are comfortable using Interactive Voice Response (IVR) when dealing with financial matters, while 55% of respondents would be happy using voice biometric technology when checking their account balance. But only a minority (35%) see biometrics as an option for more general and less sensitive tasks such as renewing car insurance. Similarly, while consumers’ enthusiasm for self-service and new media remains strong, they still appreciate personal interactions with agents to get the appropriate support and assistance when dealing with more complex services and products. With 60% of organisations now asking for security details when there is no need, it’s hardly surprising that one in two consumers becomes frustrated with call centre agents when there are security or identity problems. Once connected, if the transaction involves payment, only 5% of consumers think speaking to an agent in a UK call centre is secure, and this reduces to just 2% for overseas call centres. As well as highlighting an openness to embrace numerous contact centre technologies, the research also delivers six important insights into consumer feeling about data breaches and the risk of payment and identity security within contact centres. These six insights are: We’re only human: consumers show definite preference for brands that make it easier for them to go through identification and verification when making payments Work-arounds: consumers regularly jeopardise their own personal data security to make their lives easier B+ for effort: consumers try hard to take care of their personal data Alias-mania: consumers often try to hide their true identities when dealing with businesses The long number: consumers are worried about sharing their personal and payments data verbally over the phone Who’s to blame?: consumers are aware that they need to protect themselves from fraud, but feel that organisations (merchants and acquiring banks particularly) should shoulder more responsibility and are the weak link |