Customer Service Statistics (2023)

Customer Service Statistics 2023

In the highly competitive business environment, outstanding customer service has become a company’s essential differentiator. To develop successful customer service plans, businesses must thoroughly understand customer expectations, preferences, costs, and impacts.


LawnStarter analyzed the latest customer service statistics, including emerging trends and insights, so let’s dive into the numbers that matter in today’s customer-centric world.

In the highly competitive business environment, outstanding customer service has become a company’s essential differentiator. To develop successful customer service plans, businesses must thoroughly understand customer expectations, preferences, costs, and impacts.

LawnStarter analyzed the latest customer service statistics, including emerging trends and insights, so let’s dive into the numbers that matter in today’s customer-centric world.

Topics Covered

The State of Global Customer Service

Companies’
Strategies

Service
Channels

Consumer
Expectations

Employee Satisfaction

The Rise of Artificial Intelligence and Automation

The Future of Customer Service

Key Findings

  • The global customer experience management industry was worth $11.34 billion in 2022.
  • The global customer service satisfaction rate is 77%.
  • Countries with high customer satisfaction rates (above 85%) include Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, India, and China. Countries with lower customer satisfaction rates (below 70%) include Japan, South Korea, and Argentina.
  • 70% of consumers are eager to spend more money with companies that deliver positive customer experiences.
  • After just one negative experience, more than half (61%) of the customers say they would move to a competitor; this number rises to 76% in the case of multiple negative experiences.
  • Nine out of ten customers expect an immediate response. ("Immediate" - meaning ten minutes or less.)
  • According to research, the top reason why employees leave their jobs is being recruited by a competitor (58%).
  • 17% of consumers gave their contacts with AI customer service a flawless ten out of ten.

The State of Global Customer Service

The global customer experience management industry was worth $11.34 billion in 2022. The market is projected to grow to $32.53 billion in 2029. This points to the importance of customer satisfaction.

 

The global customer service satisfaction rate is 77%. Yet, there is variation in customer satisfaction rates across countries, from 56% in Japan to 90% in Vietnam. The majority of countries have a customer satisfaction rate between 70% and 80%.

 

Countries with high customer satisfaction rates (above 85%) include Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, India, and China. On the other hand, countries with lower customer satisfaction rates (below 70%) include Japan, South Korea, and Argentina.

Factors that impact call numbers

70%

are eager to spend more money with companies that deliver positive customer experiences.

60%

of customers say they expect companies to meet all of their needs.

61%

report a rise in total calls, with higher customer contact rates and a larger client base as the main motivators.

58%

believe that call volumes will rise even more over the following 18 months.

Consumer satisfaction is crucial because 70% of consumers are eager to spend more money with companies that deliver positive customer experiences.


This is especially challenging since more than 60% of customers say they expect companies to meet all of their needs. As a result, to be competitive in the market, businesses must prioritize offering exceptional customer service.

Additionally, most care leaders (61%) report a rise in total calls, with higher customer contact rates and a larger client base as the main motivators.

 

Additionally, 58% believe that call volumes will rise even more over the following 18 months. However, higher call volumes and more complex calls have challenged businesses to meet customer needs. Hence, they need to focus on their customer service strategies.

Companies’ Strategies

Data shows that companies worldwide are increasingly realizing the importance of customer care and support as sources of income. Customer service is seen as a revenue generator rather than a business expense, according to 54% of service professionals.


Furthermore, customer service and experience are expected to expand in importance over the coming year, according to 81% of these leaders.

Customer support and service investments can dramatically impact a business’s profitability. More than three-quarters of business leaders understand that investing in customer service can help a company weather tough economic times.

 

As a result, many companies want to expand their support operation, which has led to some cautious optimism. Half of these executives think their firms will perform better in 2023, and a remarkable 81% anticipate substantial gains or at least a stable state.

Annual budgets for customer experience

Service Channels

Businesses must adapt to fulfill customer needs as customers become more tech-savvy. With 56% of businesses listing good customer experience as a priority, many want to invest more in expanding service across channels.

Consumers now place a greater emphasis on digital communication than ever before, particularly in the wake of the pandemic. 

Customers want a variety of ways to contact businesses, with 40% ranking this as the most important quality of a firm’s customer service division.

Even though digital communication is becoming increasingly important, complex problems still require phone support. 

81% of service industry experts claim that the phone is their favorite method for communicating more complicated matters.

Channels used by service organizations

Customer Expectations

Today’s consumers have higher expectations for customer service, with over 65% reporting having higher expectations today than 3-5 years ago. Positive customer service experiences are a key component in fostering brand loyalty, according to 77% of consumers.

 

93% will purchase more from companies offering their preferred customer service channels (ex: chat). 92% will spend more on businesses that ensure they won’t need to repeat information. 90% of customers will splurge with companies that personalize customer service. 89% will spend more with companies that allow them to find answers online.

The impact of positive customer experiences
on customers' behavior

Bad customer experience impact on businesses

After just one negative experience, more than half (61%) of the customers say they would move to a competitor

However, a bad customer service experience can have unfavorable effects on businesses. After just one negative experience, more than half (61%) of the customers say they would move to a competitor; this number rises to 76% in the case of multiple negative experiences.

After an error, 78% of customers say they will return to a company if it provides exceptional customer service.

Nonetheless, businesses have the chance to bounce back from negative encounters by offering top-notch customer support. After an error, 78% of customers say they will return to a company if it provides exceptional customer service. One in five customers who rank a company's customer service as "very poor" will overlook a negative encounter.

Positive customer experiences depend on promptly answering questions from customers. 

Most customers ranked an immediate response as “important” or “very important” at every stage of the customer lifecycle, including marketing or sales-related inquiries and customer support issues, where nine out of ten customers expect an immediate response. (“Immediate” – meaning ten minutes or less.)

Customer expectations

Customer expectations by country

The global average percentage of trust, recommendation, and purchase expectations are relatively high. China has the highest trust, recommendation, and purchase percentage among all the countries, with 83%, 81%, and 81%, respectively. In contrast, Japan has the lowest percentages of both recommendation and purchase expectations among all the countries, with only 36% and 34%, respectively.

Customer behaviors by country

Employee Satisfaction

According to 85% of decision-makers, a substantial correlation exists between staff experience and customer experience. However, front-line customer service representatives know that negative consumer behavior frequently results from how their company handles customer service.

 

53% of agents think that this behavior is encouraged by how their company does business. Additionally, 58% of the agents believe that clients frequently have bad experiences due to a lack of consumer data.

Decision-makers spend a lot of money on training to solve this problem, with 81% reporting significant investments. Mainly, high-performing service decision-makers invest more extensively in agent training than underperformers, with 88% of the former group doing so vs. only 57% of the latter.

 

Only 15% of agents are pleased with their responsibilities, and 20% are happy with the level of their training. 14% say they are content with the measures used to assess their job, and only that same number say they are happy with the available career options.

Reasons behind employee attrition

30%

Recruiting
from competitors

39%

Employee
dissatisfaction

31%

Lack of advancement potential

30%

Work-life
balance

The Rise of Artificial Intelligence and Automation

Artificial Intelligence and interpersonal engagement

With the growth of technology, the customer service landscape is advancing quickly. However, even though AI is evolving to become more natural and human-like, 78% of customers still require a human agent, highlighting the need to balance technology and interpersonal engagement.


Although only 39% of underperformers actively seek opportunities to employ AI, 69% of high-performing agents do so, indicating that they know its potential advantages. Additionally, the trend towards higher technology usage shows that 79% of customer service leaders intend to invest in additional AI capabilities over the next two years.

Despite initial hesitation, approximately 17% of consumers gave their contacts with AI customer service a flawless ten out of ten. More than 59% gave them at least eight out of ten ratings. Even though most customers prefer human interaction, 72% of individuals who frequently engage with customer support bots saw observable quality improvements, and dissatisfaction levels declined.


Additionally, 60% of consumers think personalized suggestions are important, and 62% concur that they are superior to general ones. One in three decision-makers state that anticipating client wants and providing individualized experiences through AI is vital to increase ROI.


Nearly half of the executives have committed to a budget increase of 25%, and two-thirds anticipate that expenditure on AI and bots will rise during the upcoming year. In addition, 1 in 5 CEOs expects these investments to rise by more than 25%.

Customers' satisfaction with AI customer service

The Future of Customer Service

The world of customer service is changing quickly. For businesses to remain competitive, they must adjust to shifting consumer demands and technological developments.

76%

of customers demand personalization

Personalization has grown in importance as 76% of customers now demand it, and 59% think firms should utilize their data to offer personalized services. As a result, businesses are investing in automation and artificial intelligence, with 79% of customer service executives aiming to increase their AI spending over the next two years.

60%

of service organizations will adopt new analytics technologies

As customer service becomes more data-driven, companies are adopting analytics technologies to supplement traditional surveys by analyzing customer voice and text interactions. By 2025, 60% of service organizations will adopt these new analytics technologies.

75%

of people globally will have privacy protection under modern laws

With 75% of the world’s population likely to have their personal information covered by contemporary legislation by 2025, privacy restrictions are spreading more widely.

60%

of customers will use non-company-owned information sourses

In addition, 60% of customers are expected to use non-company-owned information sources by 2025 when they seek out services from them.

The Bottom Line

In conclusion, customer service has evolved dramatically in recent years, and it’s now more important than ever for companies to provide excellent customer experiences. The statistics presented above reveal that the quality of customer service directly impacts customer behavior, which in turn affects a company’s revenue and bottom line.

Sources

Zendesk
Qualtrics
Netomi
McKinsey & Company

Fortune Business Insights
Deloitte Digital
Salesforce
Gartner

Statista
Freshworks