Indians are investing more time than before addressing customer service problems, new research by ServiceNow titled the Customer Experience Intelligence Report 2024 has said. The research indicates that Indians spent over 15 billion hours addressing customer service issues in the last year.
Every individual, on average, waited more than a day (30.7 hours) on hold to resolve grievances. That translates to an economic cost of $55 billion annually.
Increased wait times, increased frustration
The survey discovered that more than half of the respondents indicated they’ve seen wait times increase from last year. On average, customer service employees take nearly four days (3.9 days) to resolve one issue.
Due to these delays, 66% of customers indicated they would switch to another company if their complaint was not resolved within three working days.
“Indian businesses are at risk of losing two-thirds of their customers in 2024 due to slow service solutions,” warned Sumeet Mathur, Senior Vice President and Managing Director of ServiceNow India Technology and Business Center.
AI: A quicker solution
More Indians are increasingly looking to technology for quicker assistance. Almost two-thirds (62%) reported resolving more issues using self-service capabilities, such as chatbots, in 2023 than they did the previous year.
More than half of the people surveyed said they trust AI tools like chatbots (55%) and self-help guides (56%) to give them answers.
Mathur explained how this shift could change customer service:
“Consumers have spoken – three days is the maximum time they will wait for a solution before taking their business elsewhere. Businesses that can’t meet that standard must act, installing AI-powered self-service options available at the consumers’ fingertips.”
The study found that Indians are trusting AI more and more. Two-thirds of them (66%) expressed that they trust tools such as Generative AI (GenAI) to provide good customer service. That is nearly 10% more than the trust individuals have for conventional, human-to-human customer service.
Mathur highlighted the evolving expectations: “Consumer expectations from AI are straightforward – effectiveness in issue resolution, ease of use, quick response times, and accurate query comprehension. This shift marks the era of Industry 4.0.”
AI can enhance customer experiences by applying historical data to anticipate what a customer may require. This allows companies to provide customized, faster solutions, which can make customers feel more appreciated.
What’s hindering customer service in India?
The report also examined why customer service is so slow. Indians identified a number of issues, including:
Ineffective communication between departments (48%)
Customer service representatives lacking the ability to make decisions (47%)
Lack of responsibility and ownership (44%)
Ineffective record-keeping (44%)
Problems with antiquated internal systems (41%)
To enhance customer care, 60% of Indians expressed that they desire quicker solutions. Fifty percent of those interviewed said they desired shorter time on hold, while others proposed improved apps, extended business hours, and better chatbots.
Mathur appealed to businesses to take these issues seriously:
“Indian enterprise now faces a choice: allow mediocre experiences to continue eroding customer loyalty or rethink the way they design and deliver those experiences. It is abundantly clear that customers are willing to use AI-led chatbots or self-help guides for faster resolution.”
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