55% of customers expect companies to reply to Facebook & Twitter posts within 4 hours
A survey on customer service expectations which sampled 2,766 respondents has found that 55 per cent of those who raise a customer service issue via a company’s Facebook or Twitter presence expect to be answered within four hours,
Facebook and Twitter have become essential customer utilities
It concludes that customer expectations continue to increase with the adoption of social media platforms.
“Consumers have very high expectations of customer service,” said Steven Van Belleghem, who carried out the research.
“95 per cent find it important to be helped quickly. 89 per cent want a transparent overview of the next steps in a purchase or complaint procedure. 89 per cent expect to be treated in a very friendly manner and 88 per cent want to complete the procedure in a single contact.”
The research found that speed “tops the list” of customer expectations, with four in 10 expecting an email to be answered, and 55 per cent expecting a reply to their Facebook and Twitter posts within the same period.
“Consumers are becoming increasingly demanding and due to social media, word about good and bad service experiences gets around quickly,” Van Belleghem said.
“Accounts of positive experiences raise the pressure on less successful companies. Society as a whole is becoming faster and faster and customer expectations reflect this trend".
The study, undertaken before the recent Prism revelations on data trawling, also found that consumers are willing to share data, but only if they perceive a benefit from their own openness.