The survey, which questioned 1,000 members of the public, found that many businesses – including healthcare businesses (e.g. pharmacists, dentists, etc.) – are losing the art of conversation, offering poor service to customers over the phone.
While we are happy to use online shopping when it suits our needs, most of us (70 per cent) want to be able to speak to someone directly when it comes to making a complaint or trying to resolve a problem.
We also prefer to use the phone when it comes to getting detailed information about a product before making a purchase (53 per cent) or aftersales support such as arranging a delivery date (59 per cent).
However, many organisations are failing to provide the service we want. More than one in four (26 per cent) of consumers felt healthcare businesses, such as dentists and pharmacists, delivered poor customer service over the phone.
Local Authorities fared worst in the study with 47 per cent of the public saying that they offered poor telephone service in these situations, followed by trade businesses (32 per cent) and financial services (29 per cent).
The biggest bugbears were unhelpful or impolite call handlers, overuse of voicemail and automated call menus and when phones aren’t answered within a reasonable time.
With customer service scores in the UK reaching a five year low, it seems that there is an urgent need for organisations to relearn the art of conversation with their customers.
David Joseph, board executive at alldayPA. “Our research indicates a worrying trend for businesses who keep their customers at arm’s length. Whilst we love the convenience and speed of online shopping and email, there are specific moments when we want to speak to a human being.
“Failure to offer this service will quite simply mean that you lose customers. 68 per cent of people said that having call handlers that are impolite or unhelpful would be enough to make them move their custom elsewhere.”
For more information and to view the Every Call Counts Report 2015, click here.