Just under a third of customer-facing employees say they don’t have the right technology to provide optimal service, research has found.
Business executives cited inadequate technology as the main reason for the poor customer service in a study by Pegasystems. Some 40% of respondents use between four and 12 technology applications daily in their jobs, making it difficult for them to respond rapidly to customer inquiries and locate customer information. A third of respondents stated that a unified view of customer data across all channels would help significantly. In addition, two-thirds of respondents said intelligent chatbots and virtual assistants would allow them to speed up processes and focus on issues that require human intervention.
The study by the software firm surveyed a mix of B2C and B2B business executives and 12,500 customers to look at the state of customer service today. The report was published to coincide with Customer Service Week, which runs from 7-13 October.
Tom Libretto, CMO of Pegasystems, said: “This study tells us that too many businesses aren’t listening to those who spend every day speaking to their customers to resolve their issues and navigating through what is often inadequate technology. They run the risk of not only losing customers, but valuable, skilled employees as well.”
