2 . Products ( e . g ., technology and financial services ) are getting more complicated while consumers seldom read the directions or contracts , leading to surprises .
I recently asked an audience of over 100 service executives how many had read their homeowners ’ insurance policies in detail and only one hand went up . She was the only one who was aware of the surprises in her policy if she has a loss .
Our 2023 National Rage study says the top two frustrations are long messages at the beginning of contact ( blame compliance ) and reaching a human and applying artificial intelligence ( AI ) without intense supervision ( different than over automation ).
At the same time , we are finding that some companies are empowering their front lines , leading to record levels of delight : as many as 40 % of consumers complaining to some companies are delighted with the response .
WHEN CUSTOMERS COMPLAIN , WHICH CHANNELS ARE THEY USING , AND IS THIS CHANGING ?
A : For serious problems , over 50 % are using digital channels and for less serious issues over 80 % are using digital . The rest are using the phone ; a recent McKinsey study says that Gen Zers are now starting to use the phone more . Chat is growing because response time is shorter . Also , companies prefer chat to email because customers “ run on ” with email while chat is succinct .
Chat is probably overall the most effective after self-service . Our data shows that 80-90 % of customers go to the website or the mobile site prior to contacting companies . This has been verified by multiple companies .
WHAT IS THE SPLIT THAT YOU ARE SEEING ABOUT THE COMPLAINTS ABOUT PRODUCTS AND SERVICE , AND CUSTOMER SERVICE ?
A : Product matters that consumers complain about the most are price and package shrinkage , and for service are the lack of empowerment ( see my comment later on about flexible solution spaces ) and failure by the company to respond at all .
For instance , I just rode a Waymo car in San Francisco and they solicited my feedback . I reported the car was too hot ( could not see how to change the temperature ) and someone had spilled a milkshake on the seat . I never received an acknowledgment – that car may still have the mess - and I don ’ t know how to control the temperature if I ride again .
A surprising finding from our analysis of CPG issues is that face-to-face complaint handling has a lower satisfaction / delight outcome than digital response from manufacturers . Also , digital has higher delight than telephone .
My diagnosis on face-to-face being worse than phone or digital is that employees are not trained or empowered to handle issues face-to-face and are fearful of confrontations . Things are more monitored and systematic in a contact center .
Many companies tell reps they can walk away from or hang up on someone who is abusive . But that does no one any good .
I tell reps to understand that this person is frustrated , angry , and lacking blood to the brain . They are dealing with a crazy person until the customer calms down . The average consumer has seven good yells in her . If she or he calls you seven names , they will then be deflated , and ultimately embarrassed by their behavior when the blood comes back in their brain .
" MANY COMPANIES TELL REPS THEY CAN WALK AWAY FROM OR HANG UP ON SOMEONE WHO IS ABUSIVE . BUT THAT DOES NO ONE ANY GOOD ."
-- JOHN GOODMAN
Therefore , the objective is to depersonalize the interaction . At one leading nameless computer company I had reps who had an informal contest with abusive customers ( their company had a motherboard that failed but had only a 90 day warranty that was ultimately changed ).
The reps would identify the abusers and then hold up their hands to count off the number of expletives they had been called . The question was : “ Could you get to seven ?”
Once the situations were depersonalized , the reps were no longer damaged by the tenor and were often ultimately able to handle the persons who would apologize for their behavior .
Aside from that , one needs to have a clear , believable explanation for the answer being given . This leads to the customer feeling that they have been treated fairly .
As one size does NOT fit all , we developed what I call flexible solution spaces ( FSS ), which says there are six ways of handling this depending on the circumstances , you decide which is best in this case . By providing reps with five or six such FSSes for six difficult issues , companies then empower them and give them flexibility .
Paul Zak , at Claremont College , has found that empowered employees with good recognition for initiative have much higher levels of oxytocin in their brains and love their jobs . The correlation with I love coming to work each day is 0.77 .
OCTOBER 2024 7