Survey Shows Disjointed Communications Technologies Fail Customers

The data shows that disjointed communications technologies not only harm employee productivity and morale, but also hurt customer satisfaction and the bottom line. Additionally, the data found that poor customer service as a result of disjointed communications technologies is to blame for the loss of both customers and employees from Australian organisations; and the situation in Australia is much worse than in the US or UK.

Companies today collect and manage more customer data than ever before across a wide array of channels, yet skyrocketing customer expectations demand swift issue resolution. The research indicates that due to disjointed communications technologies, consumers have poor customer service experiences. This results in global customers dropping four brands per year on average. Specifically, Australian consumers have stopped using a product or service on average six times in the past year due to bad customer service experience. The research also reveals that employee and customer engagement are closely linked — and therein lies the solution. Ninety-one percent of employees believe a seamless platform that lets them navigate between all the ways they communicate and collaborate with coworkers and customers would make customers happier, which in turn would drive greater employee job satisfaction and happiness.

●       Australians are most likely to say disjointed communications tools make them want to quit their jobs (26 percent vs 18 percent in the UK and 11 percent in the US).

Customers don’t tolerate poor service

In an increasingly digital world, customers expect to connect with companies over the channels of their choice — and lose patience if issues are not resolved quickly.

The employee and customer engagement equation

Employees seek to ease communication with colleagues and resolve customer issues swiftly, and customers seek rapid resolution on the channel of their choice. An integrated communications platform delivers this seamless experience, improving both employee and customer engagement and increasing the bottom line.

●      Ninety-two percent of global employees say an integrated communications platform would enhance both the employee and customer experience, and improve customer satisfaction scores.

●      Eighty-six percent of global employees agree that a seamless communications platform would increase company profitability, and 83 percent of employees would stay longer with a company.

●       Australians are the most likely to agree that when companies deliver a positive customer experience with communications technologies, the employees benefit (92 percent).

“Delivering the experience customers demand today requires addressing the friction that results from fragmented employee and customer communications across various channels,” said Kira Makagon, EVP of innovation, RingCentral. “Technology has a vital role to play in breaking down these communication workflow silos. This survey confirms that employee engagement has a direct impact on customer engagement — and dramatically boosts customer retention and business profitability.”

When it comes to the channels across which employees prefer to communicate with colleagues and customers, Australians are the most progressive, being more likely to use advanced technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), team messaging, and video:

●     Australians are significantly more likely than other countries to say they are very or somewhat interested in every use of AI in communications technology, such as:

○     Quickly serving up the right resource for customers (90 percent)

○     Coaching employees during customer interactions (89 percent)

○     Automating the scheduling of meetings or calls (89 percent)

○     Wanting bot assistance to respond to inquiries (86 percent)

●     Australian workers are more likely than those in the US or the UK to use team messaging (29 percent) to communicate with customers.

●     Ninety-seven percent say team messaging and 94 percent say social media are effective customer service support tools.

●     Ninety-one percent of Australians say they love or like using video to interact with customers, and 95 percent say they love or like using it to communicate with their coworkers.