Majority of Customers Prefer Live Agent Customer Support, Research Finds

75 percent of customers prefer interacting with live agents for their customer service inquiries as opposed to chatbots or self-service options, according to research from NewVoiceMedia.

The research found that the top customer concerns around using chatbots are not understanding the problem (65 percent), inability to solve the problem (63 percent), inability to provide answers to simple questions (49 percent), and lack of a personal experience (45 percent). Additionally, 46 percent of customers feel that chatbots inhibit them from reaching live agents.

The research also shed light on the types of transactions that customers would not feel comfortable using a chatbot for, with large banking (82 percent), medical inquiries (75 percent), and small banking (60 percent) topping the list.

“When a situation becomes emotional or complex, people want to engage with people,” Dennis Fois, CEO at NewVoiceMedia, said in a statement. “As businesses add more customer service channels, conversations are becoming more complex and higher value, and personal, emotive customer interactions play a critical role in bridging the gap for what digital innovation alone cannot solve. For this reason, companies must find the right balance between automation and human support to deliver the service that customers demand. Frontline contact center teams will continue to be the difference-makers on the battlefield to win the hearts and minds of customers, and organizations deploying self-service solutions should ensure that there is always an option to reach a live agent.”