There is plenty of advice on what companies need to provide millennials during their customer experience journey, and none of it should be new news. Given millennial customer satisfaction is only 33%, there is definite frustration within this large consumer segment.
NICE CXone’s study revealed that only 26% of millennial respondents prefer voice, yet 62% opted for inbound/outbound voice in their most recent interactions.
So why do we keep pushing them toward the phone? Or I guess the question should be, why do they feel they need to use the phone?
Let’s look at the market.
Businesses reported participating in several digital channels in an Aberdeen report – 93% using email and 85% using web. But only 57% using social media, 32% mobile applications and 29% live chat.
Using the phone for customer service is not going to decline anytime soon, but companies that want to stay on the forefront of attending to one of the largest consumer markets, and the generations that follow, should have more digital channels on the roadmap. And make sure they are adequately built to provide satisfaction. It looks like businesses are adding more channels, but satisfaction among millennials is still lower than the overall population based on our most recent consumer research.
Keep frustration low and contentment high.
In order to meet the needs of millennials, and younger generations, chat should be a factor in contact center channel planning. It was rated highest for channel performance related to: offering personalized service, being convenient way to resolve my question or issue, and keeping my personal information secure. So it seems the consumers who are using this channel seem to like it, however only 29% of millennials used chat in their most recent experience, but of those that did use it, 56% were satisfied with that experience.
Our findings reveal the top frustrations with contact centers overall, according to millennials:
Do we see an “aha!” moment here? Chat seems like a gateway to closing the customer satisfaction threshold for this demographic, but it will take more than just adding the channel to your lineup. More digital channels is a good starting point, but think about the holistic experience when millennials turn to agent-assisted channels, including phone and chat.
Get your copy of the NICE CXone Customer Experience Transformation Study.
