Report Results Show Customer Service Above All Else

By Hannah Ash, contributing writer

As consumers’ comfort level with different sales channels increases, moreso than ever, shoppers and clients are also expecting seamless customer service (independent of the channel). A massive November report in 2013, launched by independent research agency Loudhouse and sponsored by Zendesk, highlights that there is substantial room for improvement when it comes to customer service in the omni-channel environment.

This report, which interviewed 7,000 different consumers throughout the world, shows that while companies are starting to get it right when it comes to crafting the seamless shopping experience, seamless customer service needs far more attention than it currently receives. The results from this report clearly show companies are focusing on making it easy to generate more sales, but now making customer service easy to follow up in a seamless way. With online customer service, there is a clear-cut need for customer service. Seventy-three percent of consumers, according to the report, think brands pay more attention to generating sales cross-channels than to providing an integrated customer service experience; only 7 percent of consumers believe that brands provide them with an integrated, seamless experience across brands.

With statistics like these, which draw on answers from such a large consumer base, there is a clear need for brands to integrate and improve upon the omni-channel customer service they offer. A one-channel approach to customer service simply isn’t viable in the omni-channel sales environment. What do customers want more? According to the report, regardless of channel, customers want more speed, real-time service, self-service, and integration. Channel-agnostic customer service is in demand:  customers want to access to customer service that can meet their needs regardless of where an order was placed. As companies move more toward social media sales, e-commerce, phone orders, in-store pick up and various fulfillment options, customer service must innovate to keep up.