Seventy-Seven Percent Of Consumers Feel Inefficient Customer Service Experiences Detract From Their Quality of Life

New Oracle survey shows that personalized and proactive interactions are the keys to transforming digital customer engagement and customer loyalty

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Apr 10, 2018, 08:00 ET

NEW YORK, April 10, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- ORACLE INDUSTRY CONNECT -- A new survey shows that consumers are fed up with poor customer engagement experiences and outdated approaches to customer service, with 68 percent noting they would buy more from brands that put service back in customer service. Most consumers polled said that the ability to connect immediately to the relevant associate, interact via digital channels such as HD voice, video and/or screen sharing, and to receive contextual, personalized service, would increase convenience and improve their overall experience. The Oracle Communications survey, "Modern Experiences for Connected Consumers: Creating Digital Customer Engagement" showed that brands that are able to quickly capitalize on this shift can expect a 25 to 30 percent increase in loyalty from their customers.

Engage the Connected Consumer with a Modern Digital Experience

"Customers are a company's most critical asset, but in a quest for efficiency, customer engagement has become less aware and overly impersonal," said Doug Suriano, senior vice president, general manager, Oracle Communications. "Modern engagement technologies that proactively engage customers at the right time across web and mobile using contextual voice, video and screen sharing, or that can transition a chatbot conversation to live assistance coupled with machine learning and AI, have the ability to transform how customers interact with their brands —delivering meaningful resolutions with the personal touch that customers desire."

The survey also found that of the consumers polled:

75 percent: Perceive that modern engagement capabilities will enhance their experience
79 percent: Want their issues to be resolved in one interaction
76 percent: Will use a company that can minimize menu selections and get them to the right individual quickly
68 percent: Felt modern engagement capabilities expanded their options for interacting with brands, helping make engagements contextual
75 percent: Recognize the value and efficiency of voice and video chat

To learn more about the survey, download the Infographic here

Modern Engagement Technologies Improve Experiences and ROI

The survey polled 5,028 consumers across regions and industries to understand their sentiment on modern customer engagement. The results highlighted the critical need to modernize and personalize customer engagement. For example, 51 percent of those polled cited long wait times and 41 percent cited unresolved issues as the top reasons for an unsatisfactory experience. Seventy-seven percent noted that these kinds of experiences detracted from their quality of life.

The survey also showed that consumers are becoming more comfortable interacting across a growing list of digital channels that can offer a more streamlined, personal and high-touch approach. Consumers recognize the value and efficiency of these new mediums in shortening time to resolutions, addressing problems, or adopting new services, such as opening a new banking account digitally.

However, the efficiency and simplicity that can come from automated digital engagement channels did not mitigate consumers' desire for — and the perceived value of — human intuition. Customers instead indicated that blending automated technologies with emerging mechanisms for in-app brand interactions that personalize interactions, including video, screen sharing, chat and other contextual voice communications, will deliver the degree of personal contact they are seeking.

The survey also found that:

Age doesn't matter: Millennials are naturally inclined to adopt new digital ways of communicating and view the traditional engagement channels that require a menu of options and constant repetition to be tedious and inefficient. At the same time, the research showed that consumers aged 35 and older also see the value and efficiency that can be derived from modern digital engagement capabilities for interacting with companies.
Modern engagement can transform interactions across all industries: Consumers across industries felt their experience would be enhanced through modern engagement methods, including: cable (80 percent), insurance (78 percent), banking loans (66 percent), healthcare (72 percent), and online retail (68 percent). For example, in the case of cable operators, truck rolls to customers' homes are costly to deliver and inconvenient to the customer, who often has to wait at home. A modern engagement experience leveraging an interactive video session could eliminate a truck roll, enable immediate problem resolution, and hence increased loyalty. Visit here for a deeper industry perspective.
Preferred engagement channels vary by region: Consumers customer service requirements, expectations and desired mediums varied across regions:

North America: Human contact and efficient issue resolution resulting from modern engagement capabilities were cited as the most important benefits, with consumers expressing they were "extremely satisfied" with both in-person and video engagement.
Europe: Consumers are most receptive to modern engagement capabilities, including video chat, mobile apps, and web chat, recognizing the value and efficiency of modern engagement capabilities more than in other regions.
Australia/New Zealand: Consumers are more satisfied with mobile app, kiosk and web chat among modern engagement channels. Though consumers felt more engaged as a result of modern capabilities, they demonstrated they'd be less likely to act on that engagement as compared to other regions. Visit here for a deeper regional feedback.

Regardless of the region, the study consistently showed that customers feel more valued by brands if they have a diversity of choices in how they can interact, whether through personalized or automated channels. When the number of options for interactions expand, so too does the feeling of satisfaction with customers.

About Oracle Communications
Oracle Communications delivers integrated communications and cloud solutions for Service Providers and Enterprises. With these offerings, customers can accelerate their digital transformation journey in a communications-driven world from network evolution to digital business to customer experience. To see how you can transform your digital customer engagement strategy, request a demo of Oracle Live Experience Cloud here.

To learn more about our Communications industry solutions, visit www.oracle.com/communications or join the conversation on LinkedIn and Twitter.

About Oracle
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