😱 58% Of Customers Call Back If They Don't Receive An Update After 7 Days!

Hi Team, 

I stumbled upon a few cool Gartner graphs this week and thought I'd share them with ya'll.

Welcome to ... the 3 Laws of Customer Service!

1. Customers are happy to switch channels if it leads to a quicker resolution

2. Each customer interaction should be treated as a value-adding opportunity.

3. It's better to over-communicate VS under-communicate*

*Does not apply to marketing ;)

Law #1 - Customers will happily switch channels if it leads to quicker resolution

Gartner recently discovered that customers become increasingly frustrated with every additional interaction that they have. CSAT & CES metrics decrease by about 20% with every additional interaction that a customer has about the same issue:

Conversely, there is no statistically significant difference in CSAT & CES between customers who switch between multiple channels in the single interaction. This indicates that channel switching is accepted by customers (as long as the context is transferred with it):

Law #2 - The best way to retain customers is to add additional value to them when you interact

Imagine that you own a company which has exactly 100 customers. Each of these customers hold an annual subscription with you. In order to cancel or renew this subscription, they need to call you beforehand.

Conveniently, every customer has an issue that they would like to discuss before they decide whether they want to cancel or renew their subscription.

According to Gartner, the solution that your customer service team provides is critical to the likelihood that this customer will renew, or churn:

1. If you provide no resolution at all: 27 customers will renew
   

2. If you provide a high-effort resolution: 37 customers will renew
   

3. If you provide a low-effort resolution: 61 customers would renew
   

4. Provide resolution + additional value: >80 customers would renew

MORAL OF THE STORY: Figure out ways that you can add additional value to customers when you get the chance to interact with them:

• Give them tips about how to best utilise your product/service

• Proactively tell them about promotions you have at the moment

• Surprise them with a retention offer. Check out our surprise & delight suggestions here

Law #3 - For multi-interaction issues, the moments between the moments matter! Send bi-weekly updates where possible

Customers hate it when they’re not kept informed on the progress of their request.

It’s critical to reinforce to your customer service team that their job may not always be complete after the initial interaction with the customer. In some instances, further follow up and communication is required.

But how frequently should you communicate to customers with unresolved issues?

Research completed in the Complaints Outlook 2021 report highlighted some interesting preferences from customers:

• If customers receive daily updates - 31% of customers felt the need to chase up further.
  

• If customers receive weekly updates - 58% of customers follow-up at least once, with 17% of customers chasing for updates on numerous occasions.

Now let’s quickly do the maths on the above. Imagine that your contact centre has 1000 outstanding issues each week, with each contact costing ~$4. If you do not provide any update to the customer within a week, 60% of them will call back at least once (600 x $4), whilst 17% will call back 2+ times (170 x $4):

Cost of not providing frequent updates: $3080 per week; $160k per year!!

In addition to the costs of repeat callers, a high effort resolution would mean that only 37% of these customers would stay with your business in the future. This could ultimately lead to an attrition rate of 25% or more.

MORAL OF THE STORY: Update customers as frequently as possible, even if it is just to tell them that you’re still investigating the problem.

Have any other fundamental principles of customer service that you think I should highlight? Tell me by replying to this email!

Have a wonderful Friday,

Ben!