Customer loyalty requires speedy service


New research shows that, in order to maintain brand loyalty, companies need to respond quickly to customer service enquiries.

The research was carried out in September 2016 by Censuswide on behalf of Interactive Intelligence. It was conducted amongst a representative sample of 1,000 British adults aged 18 and above.

The research showed that over three-quarters of UK consumers (79 per cent) will use a different retailer if they don’t receive a speedy response from customer service interactions. Also, over half of the respondents (54 per cent) said they would share negative feedback online if they are not satisfied.

In the survey, 90 per cent of respondents said that a reply to an enquiry within an acceptable time frame will impact on their satisfaction with retailers. A massive 87 per cent said that the availability of preferred communications channels, such as social media, also impacts on their satisfaction and brand loyalty with the particular retailer.

In addition, the research showed that almost half (47 per cent) of UK consumers expect an immediate response to web chat and text enquiries. Over three quarters (77 per cent) of respondents said they expect a response in less than 30 minutes to enquiries on social media. And only two per cent thought that a reply to an email should take longer than 48 hours.

Dave Paulding, Regional Director for Interactive Intelligence commented: “The research demonstrates how important it is to ensure retailers offer the right channels for customer engagement. Having the data to know, understand and compare customer details is imperative to success. Every brand has data, but not every brand uses it effectively."

"Retailers can benefit from technology such as cloud-based solutions that can far more effectively handle big data analysis across all interaction types. This will ensure timeliness and consistency across every channel which will give customers the best experience possible.”

For more details visit: www.inin.com/uk