Bad experience means bye-bye customer: Survey

• 80% of SEA respondents will abandon a business after a bad customer experience
• Key to satisfaction are quick resolutions and multichannel support

 
NEARLY eight out of every 10 respondents in a South-East Asian survey on changing consumer behaviour indicated they would stop doing business with a company after a bad experience, with 72% indicating they would advise family and friends to do the same.
 
Overall, across the region a majority of respondents felt moderately satisfied with their customer support experiences (44%), but there is definitely room for improvement as only 25% indicated a high rate of satisfaction, according to US-based LogMeIn.
 
In a statement, the company said study was conducted to better understand the attitudes, expectations and behavioural preferences of today’s connected, multi-channel consumer.
 
Led by customer experience consulting group Fifth Quadrant in conjunction with LogMeIn, the report, Optimizing Customer Experience in India and South East Asia: Delivering to the Needs of the Connected, Multi-channel Consumer, surveyed over 1,500 respondents across Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines.
 
The results revealed some serious implications for businesses that lag behind in delivering customer service experience and engagement, LogMeIn said in its statement.
 
Nasdaq-listed LogMeIn is headquartered in Boston with offices in Bangalore, Budapest, Dublin, London, San Francisco and Sydney.
 
Click on the infographic on the right to view it in full.
 
Short resolution time
 
According to 37% or participants, the key driver of satisfaction ultimately lies in the business’ ability to connect the customer to a representative who can resolve the query.
 
Many respondents across the region (43%) said that they are most frustrated with the time taken to reach a representative, and long hold times and automated service menus continuing to irritate customers who are keen to get fast resolutions to their problems.
 
A majority of respondents indicated that they expected a response within 10 minutes if they had made the query by phone call (73%) and live chat (71%).
 
However, the survey also revealed that consumers are increasingly sacrificing customer satisfaction for speed and ease of access, noting that while traditional channels offer the highest level of customer satisfaction, 69% of respondents still prefer online and mobile channels.
 
Multiple channels
 
Speed of resolution wasn’t the only driver for a positive customer experience – the availability of multi-channel engagement was also key, LogMeIn said.
 
The number of consumers turning to mobile and online channels for customer support has increased over the past year (31% online, 29% mobile), with close to half (48%) saying they used the Web to look for information almost always before contacting customer service.
 
However, the study found that while digital channels require 8.3 interactions by the consumer for each issue resolution on average, traditional channels only required 2.8 interactions per query.
 
This suggests that current digital channels are not as efficient as traditional channels for query resolution.
 
Organisations need to ensure they have integrated systems in place to track the customer’s history across channels in order to deliver a seamless experience, LogMeIn said.
 
“In this age of connectivity, the competition is just a few clicks away,” said LogMeIn Asia Pacific director Dan Cran.
 
“Delivering a positive customer experience both pre- and post-sale is no longer a lofty goal, but a necessity for success.
 
“As available support channels continue to increase, it is important for customer service departments to be equipped with the tools to help meet the constant demand for better and faster resolutions.
 
“Those that constantly deliver positive and customised experiences will create loyal customers and pull ahead of the competition,” he added.
 
The study was conducted in November 2015 via a web-based survey program. Close to 1,530 consumers in Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines took part in the study.
 
The survey reviewed the importance of customer service in keeping customers loyal. It looked at customers' multichannel expectations and discovered gaps in the solutions that customers need compared with the mobile and web support tools that businesses are providing.
 
Download the full Optimizing Customer Experience in India and South East Asia: Delivering to the Needs of the Connected, Multi-channel Consumer report here.
 
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