Millennials Still “Like” the Human Touch – NICE Survey Says

The use of social media and mobile apps for customer service has doubled since 2011, but according to NICE Systems’ Global Customer Experience Survey, 88 percent of customers still elect to pick up the phone and call.

“On average, customers use about six different channels to contact companies for various customer service questions, issues, or complaints – ranging from social media to email to trying to solve the problem by themselves on the company website,” said Yochai Rozenblat, President of the NICE Enterprise Group. “The usage of multiple channels continues to grow, especially in the areas of social media, online and direct chat platforms, and apps. Yet, the majority of customers still prefer to speak with a live service representative over the phone to get their issue resolved quickly.”

NICE surveyed 1,206 consumers between the ages of 18 and 65 to assess their satisfaction with customer service channels, to understand how and why customers move from one channel to the next, and to discover their behavior and frequency of use on particular channels and how they influence brand loyalty.

For customer service interactions, millennials give lower preference to social media channels. While millennials are more likely to use social media channels as compared to older age groups, respondents actually prefer to speak to a live rep via phone or use website self-service when it comes to customer service issues.

The survey unveiled additional findings about channel usage and customer service preferences: