How Covid-19 Has Raised the Bar for Customer Service Expectations

The sudden shift from face-to-face interactions to remote business has put a lot of pressure on customer service, making poor customer service an even bigger liability than before the pandemic. Research shows that customers have become more demanding with 80% of consumers expecting better customer service since the pandemic began. 75% also said customer service has worsened during the pandemic.

These are the main pain points customers expect to be resolved...
 
1. Faster Response Times
Many customers have felt ignored during the pandemic period. This is due to the long time it takes for them to receive a response to their business inquiries. The fact that they cannot physically access services and products adds to this frustration. Only about 51% of customers say they received any form of reply from companies they reached out to. Of that, only 24% said their complaints were addressed within the first week.
 
2. More Knowledgeable Customer Service Agents
The customers who have been lucky enough to get responses from their service providers have encountered poorly informed agents who were unable to sort their issues. 61% said that the representatives they encountered were either “somewhat knowledgeable” or “not knowledgeable at all.” 78% said they had to contact a company multiple times in order to properly resolve an issue.
 
3. More Empathetic and Attentive Representatives
More than ever, in this time of crisis, customers value being taken care of properly and kindly. 32% of consumers want customer service to be both more responsive and empathetic. 53% said the most annoying aspect of their interactions was having to explain their issues repeatedly. Many customers have given up on resolving their issues through customer service agents because of these grievances.
  
How to Deliver Top-Notch Customer Service Post COVID-19 Era
Customers remain king and pleasing them is imperative to surviving the tough COVID-19 times. Businesses can resolve all the above-mentioned challenges and refine their customer service experiences by adopting virtual answering services, such as Insta Answer.

We offer 24-hour virtual customer service that ensures your customer queries are answered immediately by knowledgeable, caring representatives. We can help you cut costs and improve your client satisfaction, even during a pandemic. Call Insta Answer now and see how we'll handle your calls at 877-631-9711!

Sources:

• https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/investigations/nbc-7-responds/how-customer-service-has-changed-during-the-pandemic/2453785/
• https://hiverhq.com/blog/consumer-expectations-customer-service-2020-research-report