57% of consumers have more than once called a contact center agent after trying to use web site self-service, only to find out that the agent was unable to help them use the self-service features, Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories says in a new report, “Contact Center Realities: Industry Insights for Success with Self-Service.”
In addition, 66% of the consumers who couldn’t get help from either an agent or the web self service feature said they found the experience “highly annoying,” Genesys said. The report is based on a survey of 300 consumers and 200 companies in retail, consumer goods manufacturing, financial services and other industries.
On a more positive note, the report found that many companies are moving toward implementing new systems that more closely tie web sites with call centers. For example, live chat—which uses instant text messaging to let online customers instantly communicate with agents—is under consideration by 35% of respondents and considered a high priority by another 8%. Another 14% already offer live chat, but 43% don’t consider it a priority.
Web-based knowledge bases, which let online consumers enter natural-language questions into text windows, are also seen as valuable ways to reduce call volumes, the report says. 20% of respondents already offer web-based knowledge bases, 7% are in the process of implementing them, and 34% are evaluating the business case for deploying them. Another 39% have no plans to implement knowledge bases.
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