UK Consumers Call on AI to Save “Broken” Customer Service

As automation and AI chatbots become an increasingly popular part of the customer service toolkit, UK shoppers also reported ongoing frustrations with the technology. 

The results of a new survey into the customer service industry have been released, revealing a growing call from UK consumers for brands to find ways to fix declining levels of customer satisfaction, particularly as customers become more unforgiving of poor service delivery.

Commissioned by CommBox, a conversational AI-powered digital customer engagement platform, the survey of over 1,000 consumers and 250 managers in customer-facing organisations reveals an overarching disconnect between brands and UK shoppers. While over 90% of businesses believe the service they provide meets customer expectations, less than half (43%) reported that they were ‘satisfied’ with the service they had received online over the past year.

Mind the Gap: Disappointed customers lead to business losses

At the heart of UK consumer dissatisfaction lies long wait times (43%) and the inability to speak directly to a human agent (37%), as well as having to use chatbots that can’t solve queries (36%). As automation and AI chatbots become an increasingly popular part of the customer service toolkit, UK shoppers also reported ongoing frustrations with the technology. The majority of consumers are willing for AI to be used to resolve their frustrations.

However, a failure to acknowledge the low levels of customer satisfaction could have costly consequences. Following a negative experience, 87% of consumers reported that they would take some sort of action, with 51% avoiding spending money with a brand, while a further 30% would seek out a competitor. On the flipside, after receiving a positive experience, the same number (87%) of consumers would also take action, with 38% of customers actively returning to a brand following a positive experience, and 1 in 4 willing to spend more money with that brand.

Bridging the Gap: Consumers want to see AI, but only when applied correctly

When asked about what ‘good’ customer service looks like, the survey reveals that consumers are ultimately wanting brands to strike a balance in two core areas: speed and availability. Speaking to people with the right knowledge (56%) tops consumer requirements for good quality customer service, which is closely followed by speedy resolution (48%) and brands ensuring they are available 24/7 (34%).

Although the survey does highlight some frustrations around the use of technology and AI, particularly consumer frustrations with chatbot technology, it also reveals it is a key area where consumers and brands converge on a solution.

While much of the UK is sceptical about how AI will be used and what it means for employment, the vast majority (80%) want to see AI within customer service pathways to help with areas such as speed of resolution (39%) and ensuring agents have the right knowledge (37%).

Encouragingly, brands seem to be taking note, with 45% reporting that they have only just started deploying AI across the service function, with just 1 in 10 having no plans to deploy it at all. For those who plan to deploy it, areas such as improving automation capabilities (37%) and improving access to knowledge (37%) are top of mind.

Brands seem to be taking note, as they expect to use AI mainly to analyse the sentiment of customer queries, and improve personalisation, automation capabilities, and access to knowledge.

Dvir Hoffman, CEO at CommBox, commented on the findings, “The growing adoption of AI presents a unique opportunity to deliver on customer expectations and close the gap between businesses and consumers. Artificial intelligence arms chatbots and human agents with the right knowledge, at their fingertips, and it’s time for businesses to adopt AI securely, providing personalised and on-time experiences to improve satisfaction and efficiency, cut costs, and drive growth.”