Millennials: Why Customer Service Will Never Be The Same
While a recent study focuses on how consumers interact with brands, the results also hold lessons for IT in how to tailor internal tech support services to best meet the expectations of a multigenerational workforce.
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Millennials -- and to a lesser extent, older generations -- are changing how they want to interact with customer service, according to a recent study. While the study focuses on how consumers interact with brands, the results also hold lessons for IT in how to tailor internal tech support services to best meet the expectations of a multigenerational workforce.
An online survey of more than 2,000 US consumers conducted by Desk.com, a customer service platform offered by Salesforce, showed a preference to avoid customer service phone calls and engage in other communication methods, including texting, online chat, and social media.
Tech-savvy millennials, in particular, want to interact with customer service reps much the way they interact with their friends -- online and via text chat instead of phone calls. Generation Xers and baby boomers also prefer to avoid the traditional customer service call center.
The definition of which age groups make up these generations differs from study to study. For the purposes of this report, millennials are those aged 18-35; gen Xers are aged 36-55; and boomers are aged 56-65.
Millennials have high expectations for customer service communications overall, particuarly when it comes to how quickly a brand responds to their needs. This is driven partially by an understanding of what technology enables (instant communication and instant gratification) and by perceived failings in existing systems.
Check out the results of the survey and share with us in the comments section below whether you think your organization is meeting the customer service needs of its millennial customers or employees.
Acceptable wait time for phone support is 10 minutes, though 60% of respondents believe it should be five minutes or less. More than two thirds (67%) of respondents expect the fastest support response to come via chat (10 minutes or less). About one third of respondents (36%) think it would take at least two days for a response on social media, but 22% of millennials expect a response via social media within 10 minutes.
Eight in 10 respondents of all generations consider customer service over the phone to be inconvenient. Over a quarter of millennial respondents (26%) said they never look forward to talking to a customer rep on the phone, compared with a total of 18% of boomers and gen Xers combined. Respondents from all generations said they'll make other online attempts first to avoid a phone call. Exploring FAQs on a Web page is the first thing 41% of all respondents would do if they have a question about a product or service.
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