Eliminating phone customer service, is it reliable?

Nothing new about companies choosing to completely remove phone customer service because of cost reduction and claims of finding more effective channels & alternatives to meet clients’ demands.   

A practice that is already well known in the social media industry and some FinTech companies, but recently, airlines. They all share one thing in common: to enhance the customer experience through digital channels, ensuring that no client will be left behind.   

Of course, this subject has sparked a series of debates, establishing various schools of thought on whether this is an issue to worry about.   

If you consider applying or eliminating phone customer service for your business or organization, stick around!   

How many people are still using phone customer service? 

It could be the first question to ask if someone considers such a decision. Aren’t many people still using phones as their primary source of attention? 

The short answer is, yes! 

Understood as a way to eliminate the need for written correspondence and enable making instant inquiries. It is currently the most popular because it reduces the time required to solve clients’ problems. 

Allowing more opportunity for both the agent and the client to connect through certain emotions like empathy, making the call more pleasant.  

According to data presented by Consulting firm Fifth Quadrant, found that for 71 percent of consumers, talking with a live agent over the phone was still the top preference, especially for registering complaints (66%), making purchases (62%), and asking technical questions (70%). 

This comes from the fact that most problems the customer might experience are a very specific type of problem, related to their account or process that by the end, will require assistance.  

Sometimes, leaving FAQ or live chat bots is almost useless since they are designed to solve easy tasks, they can’t really make choices or truly analyze (yet) if the process needs escalating.  

Imagine just a few scenarios, where you don’t recognize a few bank transactions, or need to book a hotel room ASAP, and your only options are live chat or email with no certainty of fast response, much less a resolution.  

Frustrating, right?  

Now, this is not a scenario that applies for every company or organization. But it is very possible one with the wrong partner or service providers.  

 There are some alternatives of the same nature that have been very reliable though their constant investment.  

Omnichannel media is becoming a must for more companies that desire to exceed their customer expectations.  

Especially considering that $62 billion is lost each year due to poor customer service. 

So, should I keep phone customer service?  

Keep in mind  that at the end of the day, it all depends on your business and what your customer’s needs.  

Maybe you have a product or service that runs completely on digital, so in case there is any need for assistance, maybe you can also provide excellent attention though other cost-effective digital channels.  

Especially if you have already considered the demand or volume of calls and requests.  

The truth is that not every business strictly needs phone customer service, but that means that you have other strong alternatives to resolve any possible issue.  

Also, you must also keep in mind that phone customer service lets you:  

• Quickly resolve complex issues 
• Increase customer retention and loyalty.  
• Reduce the percentage of public negative reviews.  
• Your online conversion rate can improve by 8% when you include personalized consumer experiences. 

Thank you for reading this blog, if you want to learn more about CX services, click here.