People before Technology

People before Technology

A 2012 customer experience index survey has found that human interaction is the clear preference for New Zealanders over automated response systems and that is not about to change according to Chris Bell Managing Director of Customer Experiences Ltd a company that specialises in the development of quality customer experiences.

Being able to speak with a real person remains the most preferred factor according to the results from the APAC Customer index Experience survey 2012.

What is still frustrating customers is wait times and dealing with offshore call centres. A number of organisations have improved their performance is these areas but for others is very obvious that despite the rhetoric the customer is not their most important priority said Bell.

At Customer Experiences we think it’s much more than just talking to a real person that’s important to customers. It’s talking to a person that can deliver a quality experience as a result.

In my recent evaluations of call centres I have lost count of the number of operators I have had to ask to repeat themselves due to speaking too quickly.
Rate of speech is a basic skill for a call centre operator. It’s clear that their performances are not being monitored or there is a lack of skill development.

If organisations are going have call centres as an effective channel for customers to interact with them and this survey has found its what customers want. Then why are they not putting the time into ensuring that the experience at least meets expectations.

Businesses need to be continually reminded that in a highly competitive and commoditised economy the customer has all the power due to the amount of choice and the ability to easily change suppliers.

Customers also have a much more powerful voice especially when sharing their annoyance and frustration with organisations that are clearly more operationally focus than customer focused.

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