{"id":9811,"date":"2022-03-08T12:34:49","date_gmt":"2022-03-08T11:34:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.answerconnect.co.uk\/blog\/?p=9811"},"modified":"2022-03-17T10:25:34","modified_gmt":"2022-03-17T09:25:34","slug":"automated-customer-service-2022","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.answerconnect.co.uk\/blog\/opinions\/automated-customer-service-2022\/","title":{"rendered":"What do consumers want from their customer service in 2022?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A new international survey<\/a> into consumers\u2019 attitudes to AI in customer service has revealed the challenges posed by automation. Chief among these is the revelation that over a third of consumers say their problems are never<\/strong> resolved by automated services. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The survey, commissioned by AnywhereWorks and conducted by OnePoll<\/a>, comes as more businesses look to automate their customer service. Taking responses from 6,000 consumers from the UK, US and Canada, the results reveal a gulf between companies\u2019 push for automated solutions and consumers’ desire for real connection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Woman<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

So what exactly did the survey find?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

People prefer people<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

For anyone who has called a business only to be put on hold or forced to manoeuvre an automated checklist of options, this finding will come as no surprise. When contacting a company’s service team, a whopping 78% of consumers want to speak to a real person. That\u2019s compared to just 11% who said they\u2019d prefer a pre-recorded automation\/ chatbot service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The means by which they contact a business varies, with 39% preferring phone calls, 26% opting for email and 18% choosing live chat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Smiling<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Just 5% said they would rather speak to a chatbot by phone. Meanwhile, only 2% of the 6,000 respondents said they\u2019d choose to use live chat with an automated response. For businesses who see the cost-savings of automated support solutions, this might be a good time to pause on implementing that new chatbot system. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After all, ROI isn\u2019t a short-term game. The cost could end up being far higher once you factor in in the loss of new customers and drop in customer satisfaction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Transparency is key to trust<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The most profound revelations in the study centred around how businesses apply AI without consumers\u2019 knowledge. Over a third of people admitted to thinking they were speaking to a person to realise it was actually a bot. That\u2019s a problem for businesses, who benefit by being upfront<\/a> with their customers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No wonder then, that 84% said that companies should have to disclose if they are using AI instead of real people in their customer service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Smiling<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

AI isn\u2019t the silver bullet people think<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

And while a quarter of consumers think AI is improving customer service, 45% think it\u2019s making the experience worse. The reasons for this vary by industry and even by company, but the primary arguments against AI in customer service are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n