Social media raises stakes for customer service

Here’s what you ‘like’

Indians are a generous lot. According to the recent American Express Customer Service Barometer survey, the generosity extends to the online world, where we reward outstanding service by spending more and spreading the word

The American Express Customer Service Barometer, an annual survey conducted in India, Japan and Hong Kong found that people in India are more willing than their Asian counterparts to reward companies with both business and loyalty for quality service and end relationship due to poor service.

71 per cent Indians have used social media at least once in the past one year for customer service, more than twice that of Japan (29 per cent) and ahead of Hong Kong (50 per cent), as per the findings of the American Express Customer Service Barometer.

Speaking on this, Pradeep Kapur Senior Vice President and GM World Service Asia Pacific and Head of Global Process Excellence, American Express, said “Today’s networked consumers are demanding engagement, personalisation and prompt response from the companies they deal with across multiple channels.

They also wield a lot of influence because they spend more for great service and share their opinions widely. Ultimately, these consumers drive business growth.” According to the survey, nearly nine-in-ten consumers in India (88 per cent) feel companies have improved in how often they respond over social media channels.

However four-in-ten (41 per cent) consumers, who have used social media for customer service inquiries, say they always get an answer or have their complaint resolved, but half (50 per cent) say it is resolved only sometimes.

Excellent service means more business

Businesses in India can reap the most rewards by providing excellent service, as 78 per cent of consumers have spent more with a company that delivers positive customer service experiences.

The survey also indicates that this trend is picking up as 89 per cent of Indian customers have expressed willingness to spend 22 per cent more with a company they believe provides excellent customer service.

American Express card members confirm the findings of the survey customers by voting with their wallets. Globally, service promoters, or customers who are highly satisfied with their service interactions, spend 16 per cent more on their American Express cards than those who aren’t.

American Express primarily measures customer service satisfaction by asking customers how likely they are to recommend American Express based on a service experience. “We try to make every interaction an opportunity to deepen the relationship with the customer.

That’s what our ‘Relationship Care’ brand of service is all about,” added Kapur. “Globally, our ‘Recommend to a Friend’ scores are at all-time high because of the customer care delivered by our award-winning team.”

Sharing good and bad stories…

While 49 per cent Indian consumers say they always tell others about their poor service experiences, an even greater number (66 per cent) say they talk about their good service experiences.

Nearly all consumers talk about their good customer service experiences, at least some of the time (98 per cent) but when it comes to poor customer service experiences, nearly nine in ten (86 per cent) consumers talk about them.

On average, Indians tell 39 people about their good experiences and are slightly more vocal about their bad experiences, telling 42 people. “In an environment where recommendations from a friend are so important in driving a consumer’s purchasing decisions, creating good service experiences is extremely important.

A happy customer might tell a friend but an unhappy one will tell everyone. Unless a business understands its customers genuinely, it cannot serve them well,” Mr Kapur said. As per the survey, consumers want choice in how they want to reach out to companies for any service requests and the preferred channel for customer service depends on the complexity of the inquiry.

For simple issues, Indian consumers prefer going online (17 per cent) via a company website or email. For a more complex inquiry, such as returning a product or getting assistance with a product issue, consumers in all markets prefer speaking with a real person on the phone.

When it comes to difficult or complicated inquiries, such as making a complaint or disputing a charge, speaking with a real person either on the phone or face-to-face is preferred by most in all markets.

Bad customer service costs companies

Poor service can lead to lost sales. In the past year, nearly three in four Indian consumers intended to conduct a business transaction or make a purchase, but decided not to due to a poor service experience.

While most consumers are willing to give a company at least one more chance after receiving poor service before they consider switching, one-third immediately consider switching after the initial poor customer service experience.

The American Express Customer Service Barometer research was completed online among a random sample of consumers aged 18+ in three countries viz. India, Hong Kong and Japan with a sample size of 1,000 respondents in each country.

The interviewing was conducted by Ebiquity during August, 2015. Overall the results in each market have a margin of error of +/- 3.1 percentage points at the 95 per cent level of confidence.

Top 5 reasons for which Indian consumers use social media on customer service:

• Sharing information about service experience – 56 per cent
• Asking other users how to get better service – 50 per cent
• Praising a Company for great service experience – 47 per cent
• Seeking an actual response from a Company about a service issue – 47 per cent
• Seeking recommendations from others about good service providers – 45 per cent