News Article

Wed 19 Nov 2008

The importance of customer service

UK consumers spending 5.8billion hours a year on customer service

UK consumers spend on average, two hours and 16 minutes a week dealing with customer service staff, as a nation that equates to 5.8 billion hours a year. Given the current economic climate and the curb in consumer spending the study emphasises the importance of customer service and the impact it can have on the success of British businesses.

A DHL Express survey of more than 1200 British adults shows that consumers in Britain think that products and services have the most impact on their purchasing decision (35%) however this is closely followed by the level of customer service (27%). Women are also more concerned about customer service compared to men (29% vs. 24%) whilst forty per cent of people in Sheffield say customer service has the most impact and in Southampton, it has the lowest (17%).

The research is part of a pan European survey conducted amongst 6,435 people in France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Sweden and the United Kingdom. George Kerschbaumer, Executive Vice President, Commercial, DHL Express: "The findings from the pan Europe Customer Service Survey are essential for developing strategies that have a regional reach and at the same time offer insights into country-specific requirements that need to be considered when implementing them."  Key findings include:
 
  • Briton’s top three dislikes about customer service are waiting times (83%), language barriers (80%) and lack of knowledge (74%)
  • Brits spend almost five complete days a year interacting with customer services by phone, web or in person
  • Men lose their temper more than women but tend to receive better customer service
  • Those living in Newcastle, Norwich and Nottingham are less likely to have their problems resolved when compared to the rest of the country 

When asked about their preferred method of communication, the average Brit still prefers face-to-face interaction (39%), however, this is closely followed by computer based communication (35%). Going against stereotypes, face-to-face communication is a more popular option for men than women (43% vs. 36%). Interestingly, 14 per cent of men say that when faced with poor customer service, they would lose their temper and shout at the operator or assistant.

Consumers aged between 16 and 24 were, perhaps surprisingly, found to be more tolerant of poor customer service with less than half (44%) saying they would seek an alternative provider compared to 64 per cent of people aged over 55. The research also showed that 86 per cent of people say that poor customer service affects their decision to make future purchases from a company and nine out of 10 people (95%) say it affects their perception of the business as a whole.

* Source: Customer Strategy - www.customer-strategy.co.uk

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