DATAMARK 2014 Contact Center Preferences Survey

2014 Contact Center Preferences Survey

Survey ResultsJune 2014www.datamark.net

•Languages•Communication Channels•Technologies

©2014 DATAMARK, Inc. www.datamark.net

Introduction

DATAMARK, Inc., a provider of bilingual (English/Spanish) multichannel contact center services, conducted a survey in May 2014 to learn more about consumers’ preferences when reaching out to companies’ contact centers.

DATAMARK asked survey respondents questions about their preferred and most-often used channels of communication with contact centers.

In reference to language use, respondents were asked about their preferences regarding language fluency, accents and, in the case of written communication, grammar and spelling. In addition, respondents were asked what new and emerging contact center technologies they would be interested in using to enhance and improve the customer experience.

Key Findings

Communication channels: When reaching out to a company for assistance with a product or service, most consumers prefer to speak by phone with a customer service agent. The next most favored communication channel is web chat, followed by email exchanges.

Accents: Respondents overwhelmingly prefer to deal with customer service agents who speak their language in a neutral (easy to understand) accent.

Written communication: For channels such as email and web chat, respondents prefer customer service agents who are highly proficient in writing in the customer’s language.

Technologies: Respondents indicated they would be interested in using innovative technologies to improve the customer experience. Most preferred is callback technology: a phone menu option that arranges for customers to be called back rather than remain on hold.

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Detailed Findings and Commentary

Language use: Survey respondents were U.S.-based, and the vast majority of them indicated they use English when contacting a customer service center.

About 7 percent indicated they use a mix of English and Spanish. In this scenario, organizations can benefit from bilingual customer service agents who can switch languages as needed, helping to make strong cultural connections with callers that lead to high customer satisfaction.


Accents: The majority of respondents prefer that customer service agents speak with a neutral accent.

This preference is widely recognized in the contact center industry, and reflects the trend of establishing call center locations in the U.S. Midwest (for a neutral English accent) and the Southwest (for neutral English and Spanish accents).

Other popular neutral-accent Spanish destinations can be found nearshore, such as within Mexico, Honduras and Colombia.

Offshore, an in-demand call center destination is the Philippines, where English is spoken with a neutral accent.

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Language fluency: A majority of respondents said they preferred dealing with customer service agents who have the ability to speak English and Spanish fluently, which may indicate an appreciation for agents who are ready to switch languages as needed to serve customers.

A significant number of respondents (41.4%) were neutral in their response to the survey question—these consumers may likely use only one language when dealing with a contact center, and have no preference for a bilingual agent.

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Writing proficiency: An overwhelming majority (84.5 percent) prefer that customer service agents have a strong writing proficiency in their language for communication channels such as email and web chat.

In a multichannel customer service environment, this consumer preference reflects the need for skilled customer service agents who have the ability to serve customers over the phone, and can seamlessly make a switch to written communication in the customer’s preferred language.


Communication channels: For this question, respondents were permitted to make more than one selection.

Most said they had contacted a customer service center by phone in the past year, followed by web chat and email (both at 21.4%) and by automated phone systems.

Although social media is often mentioned in the media as a channel that is growing in popularity for customer interactions, the survey numbers tell a different story: social media is being used, but perhaps not as widely as believed.

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Customer service: Respondents’ answers were mostly neutral when asked whether they always receive excellent customer service when dealing with a contact center.

This indicates there is still much room for improvement in customer service, and why contact centers are constantly studying ways to make improved customer connections through language, culture and technologies.

Channel preferences: For this question, respondents were permitted to make more than one selection. Most said they prefer to contact customer service centers by phone, with web chat coming in a strong second place.

Interestingly, respondents’ channel preferences and the actual channels they use do not exactly align.

For example, email exchanges were used by respondents to reach out to contact centers 21% of the time over the past year, yet the preference for use of that channel is only 16%. This indicates consumers prefer channels (such as phone and web chat) that offer immediate and direct agent interaction, without the delays inherent in email or web contact forms.


Technology preferences: For this question, respondents were permitted to make more than one selection.

Most said they prefer the automated phone option that allows them to arrange for a call back rather than remain on hold. Many contact center managers understand the benefits of callback technology, and as such, it is becoming more and more widespread.

Respondents also said they would be interested in virtual customer service agents accessible through a company’s web site, as well as smartphone apps that allow interaction with customer service agents.

About DATAMARK

For more than 20 years, DATAMARK, Inc. has provided mailroom management, data entry, document processing, bilingual (English/Spanish) multichannel contact center services, business process improvement consulting and other outsourcing services for Fortune 500 companies across all industry sectors.

If you have questions or need assistance in developing your organization’s case for outsourcing and business process improvement, DATAMARK’s business process outsourcing specialists are available for a complimentary initial consultation.

Contact us at:

www.datamark.net

Toll-free: 800.477.1944

Info: [email protected]


1Survey methodology: DATAMARK invited U.S.-based subscribers of its Outsourcing Insights newsletter, as well as the general public, to participate in a web survey on preferences when reaching out to customer contact centers. A total of 116 respondents completed the survey.

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DATAMARK 2014 Contact Center Preferences Survey

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