It has been said time and time again – good customer service leads to happy customers. How hard a customer has to work to obtain the service he or she needs can directly correlate to a customer’s opinion of a company. Long, complicated IVRs will likely leave a customer angry and upset, while a personalized, low-effort customer experience leaves customers feeling special and satisfied.

A recent survey by Avaya (News - Alert) proves this. Its Customer Effort Impact Study, conducted in conjunction with Harris Interactive, asked 2,100 American adults about the importance of the customer service simplicity. The results supported the notion that high-effort customer experiences are likely to drive customers away from doing future business with a company. They included the following:

• Over three fourths of respondents state they are likely to continue spending money as a result of an exceptional customer experience with 63 percent indicating they would be extremely likely to continue.
• On the other hand, 82 percent of respondents are likely to stop spending money with companies as a result of a bad customer experience, with almost half saying that it would extremely likely to stop.

Respondents indicated that they would even be willing to pay up to 10 percent more to companies that provide consistent, high quality customer service, of which establishing an ongoing, personal relationship is an important factor. 

Clearly, then, it is critical for call centers to reduce the presence of high effort obstacles during a customer interaction. High effort obstacles, according to a majority of respondents, include the need to repeatedly contact a company to resolve an issue, the inability to reach a human to get an answer to complete a transaction, company representatives who lack knowledge of products/services, the lack of follow up by company representatives, and being transferred between staff or departments.

An effective way to create a low-effort customer experience is through efficient self-service and integrated multichannel capabilities. Hosted contact center solutions provider Five9 (News - Alert) offers easy-to-use, customizable IVR menus and prompts, which can react to the callers voice to route the customer to the appropriate department, delivering a personalized experience based on account information and previous transactions. Well designed IVRs go a long way toward reducing the required effort to access desired services, as it reduces the need for multiple calls, transfers, and follow-ups.

Once connected to a qualified agent, customers will find that their inquiries reach resolution far more quickly, easily, and with more flexible communication options. For example, Five9’s latest cloud contact center software release includes new integrations that enhance interactions with customers via e-mail and chat. Eliminating the need for agents to toggle between applications, multichannel integration makes it possible for agents to multitask on a single platform. This means agents will no longer become fatigued, disorganized, and frustrated, which also means fewer mistakes and more resolved customer service requests. More importantly, however, meeting customers on their own terms, through the communication channel of their choice, demands far less effort on behalf of the customer.

As Mark Wilson, chief marketing officer of Avaya says, "Direct experience is one of the leading contributors to a customer’s impression of a brand and the likelihood that they’ll be a fan or a detractor. Companies need to test the service experience at every point in the customer journey to see how much effort it requires and whether it supports their brand objectives and business priorities."