In the business world the most important thing any good business needs to do is earn its customers’ loyalty. This is because in a business you want your customers to return to your product and service in order to build up a larger client base.
A recent study into CX (customer experience) was published in an eBook that looks at the importance of CX, and what impacts on this. A survey was also conducted by CallCare which asked both male and female customer service agents and advisors aged between 18 and 55 a series of questions. The survey covered what is considered to be the four main areas that can have a large influence on customer experience: demographic, Industry, language and scam.
Industry
It’s commonly known that a positive customer experience is important no matter what industry of work the business is in. However, some industries are easier to deliver a positive customer experience in than others.
Callcare’s study discovered that of all industries, customer service handlers felt that Financial Services took the longest to complete their service communications, with 17% of surveyors choosing this industry. This was closely followed by Utilities & Energy providers with 12%, Business Management and Public Services both with 9%, and Healthcare and Information Technology with 7% each. These industries are more heavily information and data based and may be seen to take longer as there are security checks before the customer can have the subject of their call discussed.
The same survey found that Engineering & Manufacturing, Retail and Law saw only 5% of surveyors finding these industries’ to take the longest to handle. Hospitality, Property & Construction saw 4%, and Non-Profit Charities, Leisure & Tourism, Security, and Education had 3% of votes. All of these industries are specific in their nature and information is easier to find and communicate to customers, perhaps making the calls easier and shorter overall.
Finally both Transportation and Agriculture had the lowest amount of votes with only 2% of survey takers thinking these industries take the longest to handle. This may be due to these industries receiving a smaller number of calls and customers requiring less information.
Demographics
Demographics play a huge role in how businesses succeed. The broader the demographics satisfied with the service, the more target audience a business will succeed in reaching. Demographics can also impact on how a service should be provided, as they can affect the simplicity of the service.
Callcare discovered that, according to their survey, those aged 67 and over were the hardest to communicate with, whilst those aged 25-40 were easiest. This could be put down to the tech savviness of the customers. Most older customers will have difficulty with modern technology whilst the younger the age group the more tech savvy they are. The only outlier to this pattern is those aged 18-24, which can be put down to being more inexperienced in giving information, and not understanding what exactly would be necessary for the call/service.
Language
In this modern day world, Language has become a critical part of a good service, and the more sensitive a company or business is with the language they use, the more likely customers will be to return to the company.
Gender pronouns are one of the most recent and most important changes in language. Gender inclusivity has become very prominent in the modern world, and when a company uses the correct pronouns it can do a lot to build customer loyalty. Understanding what pronouns your customer prefers and using them is what builds trust in a business and reassures customers that the business is sensitive and attentive to their individual needs.
Scams
According to UK Finance total financial losses due to authorised push payment scams is up 71% compared to the same period in 2020. Because of this many customers are hesitant to give out personal information to businesses. According to Callcare’s data, 59% of surveyors said that they had seen an increase in people questioning their intentions as a direct consequence of scams.
Businesses, with this understanding, can implement methods such as security questions and two factor authentication in order to make their calls more secure and protect their customers’ information. Having these measures in place should reassure customers that their business is safe and secure, and should increase their trust and consequently their loyalty to the business.
Overall, callcare’s survey helps luck at some of the more important factors impacting on customer loyalty, and how to build and retain it, as well as provide suggestions on how to use this information and help businesses be more successful and trustworthy for customers.
More information about Callcare’s survey can be found in their article here.
