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“Consumers are becoming savvier and will no longer tolerate sub-optimal service such as being put on hold for long periods of time or being transferred among personnel. In fact, customers are speaking with their pocketbooks and will not continue to purchase products from companies unable to meet their service requirements. With new technology available today to help call centers create ‘virtual teams,’ companies have more flexibility and can easily offer longer support hours, hire more knowledgeable customer representatives, and ensure that customers are helped quickly, efficiently and correctly the first time.”

Key findings of the survey include:

• Seventy-six (76%) reported 24x7 support to be important (52%) or extremely important (24%) to their purchasing decisions.
• The overwhelming majority of respondents (96%) state that a positive/good experience with a call center agent would increase their sense of brand loyalty.
• Most respondents (70%) have changed products/services or not made a purchase due to a bad experience with a call center agent.
• The largest percentage of respondents, 31%, report being dissatisfied with their experiences with call centers, while 26% feel neutral about the experience, and 26% are satisfied. Two percent (2%) report being extremely satisfied, and 8% have left the experience being extremely dissatisfied.
• Half (50%) of respondents reported being most dissatisfied with call center agents/service in general when the agent was not well-informed on the product/service or could not quickly resolve the issue; 35% reported being most dissatisfied when the hold time was too long; and, one-quarter (25%) found it most dissatisfying when they were required to provide a large amount of personal information prior to being helped.
• Ninety-one percent (91%) of respondents reported being locked in a self-service menu unable to request to speak with a live agent.

“It’s not news that customers are the most important part of any organization, but what is surprising is the number of customers who base their vendor choices and purchase decisions on the customer service experience and, in particular, 24x7 availability,” said Brian Silverman, president and CEO of Five9. “With on-demand solutions allowing call centers to use at-home agents, offshoring, and distributed call center models, and add agent seats on-demand, there’s no excuse for a company to have limited customer service. Those companies and outsourcers offering 24x7 service should promote this as much as possible because it’s an important part of the overall customer experience and relationship.”