The Customer Service Bill of Rights

As a customer, I have the right:

1. To have my precious time respected by the company’s customer service department in every situation and to have my issue resolved in a single phone call or e-mail by one representative who speaks clearly, is easy to understand and has access to my customer records.
   
   
2. To be treated with courtesy and respect as a customer who paid money to the company with the expectation of customer service that cares about my individual needs.
   
   
3. To have adequately trained representatives who know enough to actually solve my problem and who will provide me with a case number I can use for a credit if I do not receive great service, as well as the ability to call back or e-mail the same representative should the need arise.
   
   
4. To receive quality customer service—including an easy-to-use menu with a minimum of clutter to quickly reach a representative—OR be compensated for my time and effort.
   
   
5. To rapid access to a live person from a company with sufficient staff so I am not kept waiting on-hold for more than 10 minutes, or I will receive a negotiable credit on my next bill. I also have the right to receive a negotiable credit on my next bill from the company if the first customer service rep does not have my records or cannot solve my problem and has to transfer me.
   
   
6. To receive a negotiable credit on my next bill from the company if I have to speak with more than 2 customer service representatives trying to resolve my issue. I also have the right to receive a negotiable credit on my next bill from the company if I ask for a supervisor and none is available.
   
   
7. To receive a negotiable credit on my next bill from the company if I am billed incorrectly and I have to call or e-mail to fix the problem, or I am given the wrong information to fix my problem by any of their representatives, compelling me to call back or send another e-mail.
   

Objective:

The objective of this research was to quantify how customers’ attitudes toward companies are influenced by their experiences with the Customer Service Call Centers.

Key Findings:

1.	Companies are not offering the quality of Customer Service Call Center support expected by customers.
	a.	Almost two-thirds (63%) rated their recent Customer Service Call Center experience as negative or neutral.
	b.	When describing their experiences, “frustrating”, “exasperating”, and “wasted time” were phrases often used.
	c.	While companies in almost every segment were named as examples of negative Customer Service Call Center experiences, some segments were more often cited:
			Cellular service / phone equipment / long-distance companies
			Computer hardware / software companies
			Online and offline retail companies
			Financial services companies
			Cable / internet providers.
2.	Customer Service Call Center experiences directly impact the customers’ relationship with the companies they do business with.
	a.	Customers state that bad Customer Service Call Center experiences negatively affect their:
			Perception of that company (83%).
			Likelihood to recommend the company to others (77%).
			Willingness to buy from that company (72%).
	b.	When customers have poor Customer Service Call Center experiences, they translate that service into the company telling them:
			You can talk to a live person if you want to buy, but not if already bought.
			Don’t call us; go look it up on the web yourself.
			It costs too much money to provide you a live person to talk to.
			If we do let you talk to a live person, it’s their job to get you off the phone, quickly.
	c.	In many cases, customers describe experiences that cause them to discontinue their relationship with the company:
			“...closed my account immediately.”
			“...I cancelled my service.”
			“I’ve filed a complaint with the insurance commissioner. . . “
			“I am leaving and going to [a competitor]”
			“I am looking for a new firm after a ten-year relationship. . . ”
Therefore, negative Customer Service Call Center experiences are likely to:
			Erode a company’s brand image.
			Halt positive word of mouth advertising.
			Stunt repeat purchasing from existing customers.
			Drive customers straight to the cash registers of your competitors.
	d.	The good news: Excellent Customer Service Call Center experiences positively affect customers’:
			Perception of that company (92%).
			Willingness to buy from that company (90%).
			Likelihood to recommend the company to others (88%).
Offering good Customer Service Call Center service can make a company stand out from its competitors. As pointed out by one customer:
			“Experience with good ones [Customer Service Call Centers] makes me really impatient when I reach the bad ones. Good competitors put bad companies out of business.”
	e.	One astute customer described the opportunity companies have to build a stronger relationship with their customers by “saving the day.”
			“I find that Customer Care representatives view their job as simply taking nagging phone calls. Really, their job means so much more than that to the caller. The Customer Care rep is there to really provide a solution, or be the ‘Saver of the Day’ for the problem or question the caller is contacting them about.”
3.	Poor Reactions to Outsourcing either overseas or in the U.S. Another interesting finding is that company image is adversely affected when Customer Service Call Centers are outsourced, either in the U.S. or offshore. Most callers report a negative to neutral impact when the Customer Service Call Center is located offshore (98 percent) or outsourced in the U.S. (93 percent). In-house Customer Service Call Centers are either preferred (63 percent) or associated with no influence on company image (35 percent).
4.	Customers have clear ideas of what makes for a good Customer Service Call Center experience.
	a.	Seventy percent want:
			An easy menu with minimum clutter to reach an appropriate representative (71%).
			A rep who understands their needs (70%).
			A rep that speaks clearly and is easy to understand (69%).
	b.	Two-thirds (67%) want their issue handled in a single call.
	c.	When asked what additional criteria they use to judge a good Customer Service Call Center experience, four primary areas were identified:
			Timing
			1.	Customers do not want long hold times.
			2.	Customers want their problems solved quickly.
			Expectations of a representative
			1.	Customers expect reps to be polite, knowledgeable and empowered to take care of their problem.
			Ability to reach a live person
			1.	Many customers want the ability to bypass menus to immediately reach a live person.
			Electronic information access for all representatives
			1.	Customers expect that every rep they talk to should have access to customer records, minimizing the need to repeat basic information multiple times.
Are We Training Young People to Expect Poor Customer Service Call Center Experiences? Thirty percent of the respondents identified themselves as college students in this study. We noticed some interesting differences in how college students responded to several of the questions.
1.	College students are less likely to be bothered by menu clutter than adults (57% vs. 78%).
	a.	Most students have been “raised” on automated call center menus and haven’t experienced anything else.
	b.	Students are also more likely to have a higher degree of comfort with technology than the average adult.
2.	Students are less likely to have their opinions of the company swayed by poor Customer Service Call Center experiences
	a.	This leads to the interesting question of whether businesses are training young people to expect poor Customer Service Call experiences.
To express your opinions and your experiences with Customer Care Call Centers, please go to www.erdm.com and click on “Customer Care Call Center Survey.” We welcome your feedback!
About the Study The study was conducted with adults and college students. Total sample was 303 respondents.