In the poll conducted by IPANEL for “Midgam” (Sampling, Consulting & Research) LTD. on behalf of the Genesis Company seeking to evaluate customer service of Israeli firms, it was learned the latter loses 2.7 billion shekels annually due to poor service. The poll shows that poor customer support frustrates clients and they leave a company as a result. The poll adds that at times, consumers become so frustrated that not only do they abandon their purchase, they do not purchase a product from other companies either which leads to a loss in marketplace revenue.

The poll shows that over 41% of consumers that received less acceptable customer service than during the previous year left the company they were dealing with. An additional 40% thought carefully about leaving. Of those customers who left, they spent over 1,000 NIS with the company they left in the previous year; 18% spent 400-1,000 NIS and 26% spent up to 400 NIS.

The study shows that if companies do not wish to lose these subscribers they must invest in timely courteous customer service with an emphasis of providing service during the hours convenient to customers and not the company. They must avoid prolonged waiting time to speak to a representative on the phone and to get rid of automated response service lines that increase customer frustration which are often outdated and simply lead to the caller getting lost in a maze of options.

Companies are advised to update to smart phone systems that offer newer and friendlier technology. The poll also shows that dissatisfaction harms a company’s reputation as 68% of the respondents shared their unwanted experience with friends. Of that number, 29% told at least four friends and 39% told over five friends about their unpleasant experience. 47% will call the company back to complain about the poor service, 21% will send a letter of complaint to a relevant consumer protection agency and 3% will turn to the media. According to the poll, only 10% will do nothing.

Customer service has become a key component for consumers when deciding between competing firms, especially in telecommunications and banking. Potential customers will speak with friends to determine their level of satisfaction and to learn what service a company offers before making a decision.

44% of respondents report that in one half of their appeals for assistance they encounter poor customer service while 25% report this is the case in all or most incidents of reaching out to a company’s customer service department.

Regarding a company’s efforts to prevent a client from migrating to a competing firm after expressing dissatisfaction, the companies report in 58% of the time they succeed in persuading a dissatisfied customer from leaving. This was not the case in 29% of the cases 13% responded they never planned to leave the company despite their dissatisfaction.

Age seems to play a factor as the poll shows customers over 40 are less likely to migrate to a competing firm if they are dissatisfied. The younger generation exhibits less tolerance and are generally quicker to move to another company.

What causes customers to feel a firm’s customer service is poor?

The leading complaint is prolonged waiting time on the phone. 67% of respondents explain that they are compelled to tell the same story told in an earlier call.

52% cite the company representative lacked the training to address the issue at hand.

51% became entangled in the maze of digital options and called in the hope of speaking to a real person.

45% report the representative lacked the authority to deal with the problem at hand.

Such polls, seeking to determine the level of satisfaction from service representatives have been conducted around the world in the past decade. Many of the polls show companies repeat the same errors over and over despite vast technological advances in the sphere of customer service including IVR.

IVR: Wikipedia:

Interactive voice response (IVR) is a technology that allows a computer to interact with humans through the use of voice and DTMF tones input via keypad.

In telecommunications, IVR allows customers to interact with a company’s host system via a telephone keypad or by speech recognition, after which they can service their own inquiries by following the IVR dialogue.

IVR systems can respond with prerecorded or dynamically generated audio to further direct users on how to proceed. IVR applications can be used to control almost any function where the interface can be broken down into a series of simple interactions. IVR systems deployed in the network are sized to handle large call volumes.

It is common in industries that have recently entered the telecommunications industry to refer to an automated attendant as an IVR. The terms, however, are distinct and mean different things to traditional telecommunications professionals, whereas emerging telephony and VoIP professionals often use the term IVR as a catch-all to signify any kind of telephony menu, even a basic automated attendant.[citation needed] The term voice response unit (VRU), is sometimes used as well.

502 respondents took part in the poll representing a cross section of Hebrew-speaking Israeli adults 18 and older.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)