New technologies such as automated phones services and
online chat are failing to improve businesses’ customer service,
management consultancy Accenture has warned.
An Accenture survey of more than 1,000 UK consumers found that
nearly two-thirds said the new technologies had done little to
improve service levels, while poor customer service had prompted
58% to switch at least one service provider over the past year.
But the research, which covered customer experiences across a
spread of industries, found sharply different levels of
satisfaction for different types of technology.
Satisfaction was lowest for automated phone services, with just
10% of the those surveyed saying they were satisfied or very
satisfied with the self-service phone systems.
But e-mail services scored much more highly, with 47% of
respondents saying they were satisfied or very satisfied – the
second best response after satisfaction with person-to-person
services, which were considered satisfactory or very satisfactory
by 59%.
E-mail was rated more highly than live telephone services (42%)
and far better than online chat (28%).
Neil Miller, Accenture’s UK head of customer relationship
management, said businesses should “think how to use the technology
to be a high-performing business”.
“The trick is to understand the different expectations of
different customer segments – their needs, wants, desires and
preferred interaction methods – and try and tailor the technology
to them.
“Businesses should ask how can we differentiate and make
relevant to each customer the technology we offer them. Don’t jump
to buy everything going, because you might not need to.”
The organisation’s customer strategy should “drive the
technology”, not the other way around, he stressed.
Miller added that the high ratings achieved by e-mail services
was an interesting finding from the research. “It does reflect the
pervasiveness of the web and e-mail that has migrated into an
acceptable form of customer interaction.”
Businesses should look at offering customers opportunities to
both send and receive e-mails as a “key part of what they do”, he
said.
Miller pointed out that although online chat had not scored
highly, its rating reflected increasing familiarity with the
technology among consumers. “Two years ago, it would have been:
‘what’s online chat?’” he said.
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