You might be on maintain: How customer support centres are losing folks’s time

The very concept of reaching out to a customer support quantity provides us the jitters. A brand new survey report by ServiceNow has proved this once more. It revealed a staggering lack of money and time for Indians because of poor customer support.

In 2023, residents collectively spent over 15 billion hours ‘on maintain’, leading to an estimated financial lack of $55 billion. This interprets to the common particular person losing greater than a day annually ready for his or her points to be resolved.

The research, performed in partnership with Lonergan Analysis, surveyed over 4,500 Indians and located that greater than 50 per cent imagine their time ‘on maintain’ has elevated in comparison with the earlier 12 months.

Gradual service decision instances are a significant ache level, with the common worker spending 3.9 days to resolve a single buyer problem. This has led to a major drop in buyer satisfaction, with two-thirds of respondents contemplating switching manufacturers if their points aren’t resolved inside three working days, it mentioned.

“Indian companies danger dropping two-thirds of their buyer base in 2024 because of gradual service options,” Sumeet Mathur, Senior Vice-President and Managing Director of ServiceNow India Expertise & Enterprise Middle, mentioned.

“Customers have made it clear: three days is their restrict. Companies that may’t meet this commonplace should undertake AI-powered self-service choices,” he mentioned.

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The report additionally highlighted a rising belief in AI amongst Indians, with 66 per cent expressing confidence in Generative AI for customer support. This marks a shift in the direction of AI-driven options, notably amongst youthful shoppers who worth effectivity, pace, and accuracy.

The research felt that structural issues are pushing wait instances additional with 48 per cent of the respondents figuring out inefficient inside communication as a significant problem for customer support delays, whereas 47 per cent say customer support employees lack decision-making energy.

As many as 44 per cent of the respondents imagine lack of possession and accountability between completely different departments, adopted by 44 per cent imagine – poor document preserving from the earlier service and 41 per cent suppose points with inside programs are among the principal causes for delays in resolving their points which might be simply fastened with strategic interventions.