Indian consumers highly impatient with customer service executives: Study

MUMBAI: If you have been using foul language on the customer service associate threatening to switch to competition, you aren’t the only one to do so. In fact, 64% of Indians lose their temper with a customer service executive, far higher in comparison to an average of 48% in other markets, says a survey that highlights the rising importance of customer service in the country.

Nearly two in five Indians threatened to switch to a competitor while a third of them hung up the phone on customer care executives.

While around 61% insisted on speaking to a supervisor, 12% of Indians use profanities or abusive language as against an average of 7% globally, according to the survey by American Express and global research firm 'echo'.

“Great customer service is great business and positions a brand with staying power,” said Pradeep Kapur, Senior Vice President, World Service India & Process Excellence, American Express said.

The American Express Global Customer Service Barometer-an annual survey of attitudes and preferences towards customer service in India and ten other countries-was done online among shoppers above 18 years of age.

Over than a quarter of the survey participants said the whole 'customer service experience' that marketers talk about missed their expectations completely.

“We are very relationship oriented country and we love to know the name of the person and see the face of an individual who caters to us at other side of the phone call,” Harish Bijoor, brand consultant and CEO of Harish Bijoor Consults Inc. “Moreover, Indians are very new to remote complain and data services, hence their aspirations will obliviously higher compare to other mature markets such as the US.”

Indian consumers discuss good customer service more than any other nationals; 97% of the participants talk about 'after-sales service'. Indians are becoming quite vocal about poor quality service too as each one tells approximately 47 people about their bad experience. One out of every five consumers feels businesses pay less attention to providing good customer service. And four out of five believe that smaller businesses give more importance to customer service than large ones.

“When customers know that a company is listening to them and addressing their needs quickly and responsively, they will not only spend more – they will spread the word to others as well,” adds Kapur of Amex.

As per the survey, seven in ten consumers intended to conduct a business transaction or make a purchase, but decided against it due to poor service experience. This particularly applies to service sectors such as hospitality, healthcare, finance, telecom, airlines and retail that contribute around 60% of the country's GDP.