Telecom Lead India: An Avaya survey said despite the growth in the use of non-voice channels, phone based communication is still primarily used for customer service interactions in India.
The three channels that the Indian consumers believe they will be using more often in the future are Email (85 percent), Online phone calls (60 percent) and SMS/text (56 percent), according to 2012 Avaya Asia Pacific Customer Experience Index.
“Smartphones and tablets are rapidly becoming the device of choice for the masses. Gen-Ys were the early adopters but these devices are mainstream now, embraced by all demographics and age groups. The ubiquity of smartphones and tablets enables seamless communication via voice, video and chat,” said Chong-Win Lee, director, contact center solutions, Asia Pacific, Avaya.
Widespread Internet connectivity drives behavior such as impromptu social media posts, persistent email access and instantaneous responses to text chats. New media will shape new expectations in customer service.
“Enterprises must thus start to evolve their customer experience strategies to ensure multi-channel is right at the core and where they can exploit new media to deliver intuitive and richer customer experiences. Companies which fail to do this risk alienating their customers and losing their relevance over time,” Lee added.
32 percent use social media for customer service interactions in India.
Social media usage in customer service interactions in India has been gaining momentum. 32 percent are already using social media and/or an online forum for a customer service related query. The top three channels used by Indian consumers to contact customer service centres are Phone conversation (88 percent), Email (77 percent) and Automated & Phone conversation (63 percent).
Social media along with technologies such as smartphone applications and web chat are becoming more popular. These alternative channels are predicted by survey respondents to grow by 33-49 percent in the next 1-2 years, demonstrating the growth in importance of the multi-channel contact center.
85 percent of Indian consumers are willing to pay more to a company that provides them with excellent customer service.
5 in 6 consumers are willing to pay more to companies that deliver excellent service, and of those, more than 35 percent are willing to pay at least 10-20 percent more.
When customers are satisfied with the service they receive, they are more likely to remain loyal and generate additional revenues.
Customers understand good customer service, and demand it from every service interaction they have with a company across all the communication channels used.
62 percent of Indian consumers are likely to move or have already moved their business as a result of a poor response from a customer service center.
“In today’s scenario, business success of any firm depends on its ability to create compelling customer experience. Companies must realize that a customer judges the business by its ability to deliver seamless customer service, so it is important to understand the various elements that will determine the quality of customer interaction, and ensure a collaborative communication approach,” said Johnson Varkey, director, contact center sales, Avaya, India and Saarc.
