Vocalabs Research Shows Three Common Problems Impact 35% of Surveyed Bank of America Customers

Avoidable Customer Service Issues Common Across All Companies Studied

MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota (August 7, 2012) – In an analysis of customer service patterns at eleven companies over the past 18 months, three common mistakes in customer service systems consistently drove customer frustration at all companies. The Vocalabs Customer Frustration Index ranged from a low of 18% at HP's technical support, to a high of 35% at Bank of America. This index measures the percentage of surveyed customers who experienced one of three specific problems:

• The automated system made it hard to reach a person, or didn't have the option the customer was looking for. Only 2% of customers who experience this problem successfully self-serve. 39% hang up before getting what they need on the call, and 59% manage to overcome the barriers and reach a person.
• Customers who have to call back have to start over. Most customers who had to call more than once reported they had to start over from the beginning, and these customers were highly dissatisfied with the experience. Those customers who were able to pick up where they left off were just as satisfied as first-time callers.
• Customers can't speak to a person when they need to. Most customers know when they need to speak to a person and when they can self-serve. In our survey, customers who used self-service by choice were more satisfied than customers who spoke to a person; but customers who were forced to use self-service rated the experience very poorly.

“We conducted extensive interviews of over 8,000 customers of eleven different companies for this research, interviewing each customer within minutes of a customer service experience,” said Peter Leppik, CEO of Vocalabs. “We looked at specific elements of the customer service process to find how the customer service experience can be better designed, and found that companies are making several mistakes which drive down service levels. These problems are only about how the systems and experiences are built, and don't even get to common complaints like agent language skills or customers who couldn't get their problems resolved.”

An executive summary of this data is available to download at http://www.vocalabs.com/published-research.

ABOUT THIS RESEARCH

The National Customer Service Survey (NCSS) tracks customer service quality in several industries, using telephone interviews conducted with a customer immediately after a customer service experience. Statistics in this press release are based on 8,218 interviews completed between January 2011 and June 2012. Customers of Apple, Dell, HP, AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon, Bank of America, Chase, Citi, and Wells Fargo were interviewed immediately after a customer service call. The NCSS is underwritten and conducted by Vocalabs, independently of any of the companies covered.

To subscribe to the full data set, contact Vocalabs at inquiry@vocalabs.com, 952-941-6580, ext. 205.

ABOUT VOCALABS

Vocal Laboratories Inc. (Vocalabs) helps companies who care about customer service and need to get the most out of their customer feedback programs. We work with our clients to design and implement customer service surveys which are dependable, actionable, and credible. We use our expertise and real-time reporting platform to deliver the data when and where it can be most effective in improving the customer experience. Our clients gain a deep understanding of how their customers perceive the service experience, and insights into how to improve. Learn more at www.vocalabs.com.

Contact: Peter Leppik, Vocalabs, pleppik@vocalabs.com, 952-941-6580, ext. 201.