Research from NewVoiceMedia shows that many US businesses lack the contact centre capabilities to meet customer expectations.

The study, conducted by global market research firm Opinion Matters, exposes significant gaps between customer preferences and reality, and suggests that businesses across many different sectors are missing out on opportunities to enhance their customer contact centers with technology that could help retain existing customers and acquire new business.

Nearly one-third (32 per cent) of contact center professionals surveyed indicated that their customers typically need to repeat themselves to more than one agent. Previous research from NewVoiceMedia showed that 49 per cent of customers are put off by having to repeat information to multiple call center agents, and 30 per cent would take their business elsewhere for that very reason.

Similarly, 21 per cent of respondents’ call centers are not able to match customers who switch channels with their previous contact, even though 37 per cent of customers say being passed around to multiple customer service agents would drive them away from a business.

Contact centre technology that enables intelligent call routing based on a customer’s phone number or history of interactions in the CRM system reduces these common frustrations.

Businesses have also been slow to adapt to the increasing importance of social media as a customer service channel. Only 5 per cent of respondents consider social listening a primary method for customer feedback, but 19 per cent of customers complain on social media, and 17 per cent flag it as the most effective way to resolve an issue. This represents a major disconnect between what customers expect and what they experience.

“Today’s service agents are required to manage a complicated mix of customer calls, email, instant messages, social media, video chat and more,” said Moni Manor, Chief Product Officer at NewVoiceMedia. “This research highlights the increasing complexity of providing quality customer service, and the need for businesses to invest in resources that will allow them to adapt to their customers’ ever-evolving expectations.”