How Do You Address Common Customer Service Gaps with Real-World Strategies?

I read Metrigy’s research study on “Customer Experience Optimization 2024-25 – Consumer Views.” This was a study conducted with 502 U.S. consumers.

What is the most significant finding of this study?

Despite all the technological advances over the past several years, customer service ratings are not as high as they could be.

The consumers were asked to rate the customer service they received. Here are the findings:

• 14.7% of survey respondents said it’s excellent
• 40.6% said it’s good
• 36.3% said it’s fair

However, business leaders thought that 35.3% of their customers would say their service was excellent, and 60.7% would say it was good.

Isn’t there a huge disconnect between how business leaders perceive and what customers experience?

This misalignment results in customer service gaps, and they need to be proactively addressed.

Common Customer Service Gaps and How Do We Address Them

Automated Systems

Most organizations have started implementing artificial intelligence as a part of their customer service function. However, does it deliver a satisfying customer experience?

Let us look at some statistics:

• 70% of organizations have implemented some form of AI in their customer experience strategies
• Only 12% of consumers prefer interacting with AI agents or chatbots in comparison to interacting with human representatives.

How often have you felt trapped in chatbot loops? You interact with a chatbot, and it does not offer you an option to ask your own questions or talk to a human agent. This invariably results in frustration.

You can address this by offering a way to reach a human agent easily.

Let me give you an example.

Bank of America introduced “Erica,” an AI-driven virtual assistant, to handle routine transactional queries. A lot of customers found this useful. However, some customers had issues with the virtual assistant, and they needed a way to speak to a human agent during their interaction.

Recognizing AI’s limitations, the bank provided an option for its customers to transition to human agents for complex issues seamlessly.

The learning here is:

Deploy AI to handle repetitive tasks but always provide customers with an option to connect with human representatives at any time during their interaction.

Inadequate First-Contact Resolution

What are your expectations when you reach out to customer support? You want a quick and effective resolution to your queries.

It is normal for frustration to set in when your issues are not resolved in the first interaction. Research shows that 70% of customers feel annoyed when their problems are not resolved in the first interaction.

This would result in negative word-of-mouth and increase customer churn.

Let me give you an example of how you can enhance first-call resolution.

Zappos empowers its agents with comprehensive training and authority to resolve issues on the spot. The agents are empowered to do everything in favor of the customers. This has helped them resolve more than 90% of their customers’ problems in the first interaction.

The learning here is:

Invest in robust training programs that allow your agents to gain deep knowledge of your offerings and empower your agents with the authority or discretionary powers to make decisions.

Inconsistent Omnichannel Experiences

Customers interact with businesses across multiple channels, including phone, email, chat, website, mobile app, and social media.

Do you get a consistent experience across all channels?

Often, most channels function in silos, and you expect a seamless experience across all touchpoints, but many businesses don’t provide one.

Customers end up repeating themselves when they interact with customer service across different channels. Over 50% of customers feel frustrated with the inconsistency across channels.

Let me give you an example of creating a unified omnichannel contact center experience.

Have you heard of Sephora?

A multinational retailer of personal and beauty care products integrated their online and in-store experiences. Now, they had access to customers’ purchase histories from both online and in-store purchases, which allowed them to offer personalized recommendations.

Besides, it allowed their customers to check out their products online, try them offline, and make a purchase.

The learning here is:

Ensure that all the touchpoints are tightly integrated so that the agents have a single view of their customers, where the customers do not have to repeat information when switching between touchpoints.

Prolonged Response and Hold Times

How often have you had to wait long to have a conversation with an agent in a customer service center?

Customers value their time, and long wait times are a strict no, as it will negatively impact the experience and perception of a brand.

Research shows that 60% of customers dread calling customer service because of extended hold time, and 75% believe that brands do not value their time. This invariably results in customer churn.

Let me give you an example of how this can be avoided.

I am a regular shopper at Amazon. Whenever I have an issue and try to reach their customer service, they provide me with self-service options to resolve my queries. When the self-service fails, they give me the option to request a callback, and I get a call immediately from them.

This completely takes away the wait times.

The learning here is:

Implement callback functionalities and offer self-service channels that are intuitive and convenient to use.

Ensure that self-service options are intuitive and effective.

Lack of Personalization

How often have you bought something based on the recommendations provided by a salesperson or an automated recommendation engine after understanding your preferences and needs?

Amazon attributes 35% of its revenue to the recommendation engine.

Customers definitely expect businesses to recognize them and tailor interactions based on their preferences and history. Otherwise, the interactions can lead to dissatisfaction and lost revenues.

Let me give you an example of how personalization can be implemented.

The last five movies that I watched on Netflix are based on the recommendations provided by Netflix. It takes into account my watch history and suggests these recommendations.

Did I love those recommendations?

You bet I did.

The learning here is:

You can use existing customer data to personalize interactions. Besides, when you equip your agents with customer purchase history and preferences, they can easily provide relevant solutions.

A survey by PwC found that 73% of customers say a good experience is key in influencing their brand loyalties. Yet one in three customers will leave a brand they love after just one bad experience.

This means every single customer interaction matters.

Jeff Bezos once famously said:

We see our customers as invited guests to a party, and we are the hosts. It’s our job every day to make every important aspect of the customer experience a little bit better.

Businesses that embrace this mindset will thrive, and the rest will watch their customers walk away.

Are you willing to make customer service a priority today before your customers decide for you?