After a decade of running WordPress businesses, we thought we knew everything about customer service. Turns out, we’re still learning!
Did you know you could lose half your customers from bad service alone? That’s just one of the mind-blowing customer service statistics and trends we’ve uncovered.
The world of customer service is changing fast, and these stats tell the real story. We’ve dug deep to find the most surprising trends that could reshape how you do business. From AI chatbots to social media support, we’re breaking down what really matters for your customers.
Ready to transform your customer service? Dive in and discover how to turn these customer service stats into real wins.
The Latest Customer Service Statistics and Trends
The State of Customer Service
The world of customer service is constantly evolving. Let’s dive into some eye-opening customer service statistics that reveal the current state of the industry.
1. 43% of customers stopped buying from a brand in the past year due to poor customer service.
This shows how important good customer service is for keeping customers loyal.
Poor service can have serious consequences for businesses. In today’s connected world, unhappy customers often share their bad experiences online. This can deter potential new customers and hurt the brand’s image.
2. According to 36% of customers, retail has the worst digital customer service.
Retail shops like online boutiques face unique challenges in digital customer service. They often deal with high volumes of inquiries about products, shipping, and returns. That’s why balancing fast responses with personalized service can be tricky.
A good way to improve is to use a help desk tool like Help Scout, which is what we use at WPBeginner and our other partner brands.
It comes with live chat, a shared inbox, and a help desk. This lets you answer questions faster and keep track of all customer issues in one place.
3. Customers prefer calls (87%) and emails (86%) over contact forms (44%) and chat (43%) for reaching out to businesses.
People like calls and emails because they’re familiar and feel more personal. Calls offer instant answers, while emails give a record of the conversation. Many customers trust these methods more than newer options like chat.
If you want to improve your phone support, then consider using Nextiva. It’s a great business phone service that we use here at WPBeginner and our other partner brands.
When you sign up, you get both a toll-free and a local number. Your team can use the Nextiva app on computers or phones to handle calls.
Nextiva works with all kinds of phones, from desk phones to conference systems. It’s all cloud-based, so it’s easy to set up and use. You can learn more about it in our Nextiva review.
More General Customer Service Statistics
74% of customers have experienced a product or service problem in the past year.
79% of customers will make the time and effort to complain about an issue.
29% of customers say they would complain to a company after one negative experience.
27% of customers rarely complain to a company after a negative experience.
33% of customers leave a brand after two negative experiences. The most common customer problems are related to product pricing and performance quality.
Customer Expectations: What Matters Most
Now, let’s look at what customers really want from their service experiences.
4. 45% of customers expect their issue to be solved the first time they contact a company.
In other words, people don’t want to repeat their problems to multiple agents. Instead, they hope for quick, effective solutions without having to call or email again. This shows how important it is to train your support team well.
One way to improve first-contact resolution is to use a good knowledge base platform. This tool can help your team find answers quickly and let customers find solutions on their own. With a well-organized knowledge base, you can solve more issues on the first try.
If you use WordPress, then HeroThemes is a great support plugin bundle for this. It comes with the Heroic KB plugin that adds a searchable knowledge base to your site. You will also get Heroic Inbox to manage all your customer emails and support tickets in one place.
For more information, check out our HeroThemes review.
5. When customers reach out for support, 36% want a refund, 27% want the product fixed, 25% want an explanation, and 24% want an apology.
These customer service statistics show that people expect different solutions when things go wrong. To meet these expectations, it’s important to have flexible policies in place.
A clear money-back guarantee can help satisfy the largest group of unhappy customers. For example, our partner brand OptinMonster offers a 14-day money-back policy if the user doesn’t see any improvement in their lead-generation efforts.
For products that can be repaired, offering a repair service or replacement can be a great option.
To improve customer service experiences, create guidelines for your team on how to respond to issues. Train them to explain problems clearly and apologize sincerely. This approach can help turn bad customer service situations into positive ones, building trust and loyalty.
6. The top 2 things customers get most frustrated by are long waits and hard-to-find contact details when they need help.
To improve customer service, set clear expectations about when you’ll respond.
For example, you will want to tell users your business support hours and time zone. This helps them know when to expect help. You can add this info to your website’s contact page or in auto-replies to emails.
For clearer contact info, adding a clear ‘Contact Us’ link in your main menu should be enough. Or consider adding a floating contact form to your website or using a slide-out form that’s always visible.
These customer service strategies can make it easier for people to reach you when they need help.
7. 1 in 4 customers don’t complain because they think nothing can be done about their problem.
This finding reveals a lack of confidence in many businesses’ ability to solve issues. Even if these customers don’t complain, they might leave for a competitor at any time. This silent dissatisfaction can be a hidden threat to your business.
To boost customer confidence and improve service experiences, try being proactive. One effective strategy is to set up a follow-up email after each purchase. This shows customers you care about their experience and are ready to help if needed.
You can use a tool like FunnelKit to create these follow-up email sequences easily. For example, you can ask for feedback, offer help, or simply thank them for their purchase. This proactive approach to customer service can catch problems early and show customers you’re committed to their satisfaction.
More Facts About Customer Expectations
87% of support teams say customer service expectations have increased in the past year.
80% of customers have complained about their most serious problem.
69% of customers want more than just monetary compensation for a complaint.
67% of customers expect ticket resolution within 3 hours.
53% say poor self-service happens when it’s too hard to talk to a real person, while 46% cite conflicting information from support agents.
50% of complaints were made digitally.
48% of customers did not get a response from complaining.
Besides first-contact resolution, customers care about resolution time (25%) and personalized service (22%).
Only 8% of customers want to solve problems through self-service.
Trends in Customer Service Technology and Tools
Here are the latest trends in customer service technology that are shaping the industry.
8. 43% of companies use email tools, 41% use CRM systems, 40% use live chat, 36% use help desks, and 33% use feedback surveys for their customer service.
