According to a report by CM.com, 42% of consumer enquiries to businesses are either ignored or unanswered. The Convers-AI-tional Nation Report looked at the performance and annual turnover of the UK’s top 25 retail brands, and used each business’s customer service channels to pose common enquiries.

It found that the brands with more communication channels available to customers were more responsive, quicker to answer queries, and answered questions more thoroughly than those with fewer channels. In fact, only 13% of the 25 businesses answered the query in full and in a timely manner. Only 8% of the retailers surveyed had a human customer service operator available 24 hours a day, with many relying on chatbots to resolve all customer queries, from basic FAQs to more complex enquiries about their order.

In the past decade, chatbots have become a go-to solution for businesses looking to increase their customer service offering without hiring a dedicated team. And it makes sense – many companies can’t afford a round-the-clock customer service agent to be on hand 24/7. However, CM.com’s survey did find that the brands with the most responsive and helpful customer service also were far more profitable than those with worse service. In fact, the businesses ranking in the top 10 for customer service share more than £7.2 billion higher annual turnover than the average turnover for the bottom 10 brands.

These figures tell us something we probably already knew: chatbots can’t replace human interaction when it comes to meaningful customer service. But it also implies that using chatbots and preventing access to different means of customer service has a strong impact on how customers view your brand and how they choose to shop. The figures here suggest that customers build more loyalty with the brands they know they can rely on for good service – which in itself doesn’t come as a surprise. But the negative impact that has in turn for brands that don’t prioritise customer service could inspire action.

So as the holiday season approaches, from Black Friday into Christmas and the New Year sales, investing in customer service could be the answer to securing higher profits and beating out the competition. Chatbots are a great barrier to prevent human customer service teams being swamped with easy-to-answer queries that can be fulfilled by AI. In 2022 they could even be considered an essential element of any customer service department, helping to scale operations and often effectively answering simple enquiries.

But when it comes to more complex needs and the customer’s opinion of your brand, providing more options makes a difference. Promoting positive customer experience is shown to increase turnover, so rather than copping out of quality customer service, consider this faction of your brand to be one of the leading factors in increasing customer loyalty and, in turn, profits.

Want to get your company in the headlines? Speak to the OggaDoon team today about how we can help you develop ground-breaking campaigns and get your business in the public eye.