ATLANTA – A new survey shows 62% of people are spending longer on the phone to businesses than three years ago, a figure that was only 46% the previous year. The research from Moneypenny, which handles over 20 million calls and chats for businesses annually, also found that 76% of customers cite a company not putting their phone number on their website as a major source of irritation.
“What’s an immediate way to frustrate more than three quarters of your customers and leads? Not give them a phone number,” said Richard Culberson, CEO of Moneypenny North America and Voice Nation. “Even if they never use it, they know they have a way of getting in touch and being able to talk to someone. Further, not seeing a phone number can understandably create trepidation about your brand.”
In the survey, Moneypenny found the phone is where customers go for urgent (50%) or complicated (39%) requests, but a slew of irks continue to plague callers. The biggest issues for people trying to contact a business were calls not being answered (40%), complex call attendant messages (33%) and having to leave a voicemail (30%). Other areas that caused irritation included annoying hold music (29%), being told to check the website (28%), feeling rushed/not listened to (26%), being asked to call back (25%), or background call center noise (21%).
There are clear generational differences in preferences for how to communicate, with older generations using the phone and email more than younger age groups that prefer to use social media. For example, 56% of Baby Boomers and 44% of Generation X (age 43-58) prefer calling a business, compared to just 22% of Gen Z (age 16-26) and 26% of Millennials. In contrast, 19% of Gen Z and 13% of Millennials would use social media to contact a company, compared with only 3% of Gen X and 2% of Baby Boomers. A similar trend appeared with Chatbots as younger generations are more likely to use them, with 49% of Gen Z and 56% of Millennials, but only 27% of Baby Boomers.
Moneypenny’s Customer Communications Trend Report¹ also highlights that a bad call experience can significantly impact ongoing business success, as almost 46% of people say they would go elsewhere following a poor call, while 41% would call back and ask to speak to someone else and 35% would make a complaint to the business.
Richard Culberson, CEO North America at Moneypenny, commented: “Our survey shows that people want to talk to people, but poor phone etiquette is a major turn-off, and it’s costing firms business. Just one bad call can result in both lost revenue and a damaged reputation.”
To read Moneypenny’s Customer Communications Trend Report in full, visit – Call trends report
– ENDS –
About our market-leading brands
Moneypenny and VoiceNation are America’s best virtual receptionist & phone answering providers.
For more than 20 years, VoiceNation has specialized in custom-scripted call answering, with bilingual receptionists available to take calls 24 hours a day. VoiceNation is part of Moneypenny, a leading 24/7 provider of personalized answering services, live chat and customer contact solutions.
Collectively, the Moneypenny Group employs over 1,200 people handling over 20 million calls and chats for thousands of businesses of all shapes and sizes – from sole traders right up to multinational corporations – across the UK and the US.
AUTHOR: Mary Jane Greenhalgh
AUTHOR EMAIL: maryjane.greenhalg@moneypenny.co.uk
AUTHOR URL:
SUBJECT: [The Georgia Sun] Post a Press Release
IP: 13.38.47.90
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{“1_Name”:”Mary Jane Greenhalgh”,”2_Email”:”maryjane.greenhalg@moneypenny.co.uk”,”3_Company Name”:”Moneypenny”,”4_Headline”:”Moneypenny Dials In on What Irks Customers and Prospects the Most”,”5_Article”:”ATLANTA – A new survey shows 62% of people are spending longer on the phone to businesses than three years ago, a figure that was only 46% the previous year. The research from Moneypenny, which handles over 20 million calls and chats for businesses annually, also found that 76% of customers cite a company not putting their phone number on their website as a major source of irritation.\r\n\r\n\u201cWhat\u2019s an immediate way to frustrate more than three quarters of your customers and leads? Not give them a phone number,\u201d said Richard Culberson, CEO of Moneypenny North America and Voice Nation. \u201cEven if they never use it, they know they have a way of getting in touch and being able to talk to someone. Further, not seeing a phone number can understandably create trepidation about your brand.\u201d\r\n\r\nIn the survey, Moneypenny found the phone is where customers go for urgent (50%) or complicated (39%) requests, but a slew of irks continue to plague callers. The biggest issues for people trying to contact a business were calls not being answered (40%), complex call attendant messages (33%) and having to leave a voicemail (30%). Other areas that caused irritation included annoying hold music (29%), being told to check the website (28%), feeling rushed\/not listened to (26%), being asked to call back (25%), or background call center noise (21%).\r\n\r\nThere are clear generational differences in preferences for how to communicate, with older generations using the phone and email more than younger age groups that prefer to use social media. For example, 56% of Baby Boomers and 44% of Generation X (age 43-58) prefer calling a business, compared to just 22% of Gen Z (age 16-26) and 26% of Millennials. In contrast, 19% of Gen Z and 13% of Millennials would use social media to contact a company, compared with only 3% of Gen X and 2% of Baby Boomers. A similar trend appeared with Chatbots as younger generations are more likely to use them, with 49% of Gen Z and 56% of Millennials, but only 27% of Baby Boomers. \r\n\r\nMoneypenny\u2019s Customer Communications Trend Report\u00b9 also highlights that a bad call experience can significantly impact ongoing business success, as almost 46% of people say they would go elsewhere following a poor call, while 41% would call back and ask to speak to someone else and 35% would make a complaint to the business.\r\n\r\nRichard Culberson, CEO North America at Moneypenny, commented: \u201cOur survey shows that people want to talk to people, but poor phone etiquette is a major turn-off, and it\u2019s costing firms business. Just one bad call can result in both lost revenue and a damaged reputation.\u201d\r\n\r\nTo read Moneypenny\u2019s Customer Communications Trend Report in full, visit \u2013 Call trends report \r\n\r\n- ENDS -\r\n \r\nAbout our market-leading brands\r\nMoneypenny and VoiceNation are America\u2019s best virtual receptionist & phone answering providers. \r\n \r\nFor more than 20 years, VoiceNation has specialized in custom-scripted call answering, with bilingual receptionists available to take calls 24 hours a day. VoiceNation is part of Moneypenny, a leading 24\/7 provider of personalized answering services, live chat and customer contact solutions.\r\n \r\nCollectively, the Moneypenny Group employs over 1,200 people handling over 20 million calls and chats for thousands of businesses of all shapes and sizes \u2013 from sole traders right up to multinational corporations – across the UK and the US.”,”6_URL to image that goes with this article.”:””,”email_marketing_consent”:””,”entry_title”:”Post a Press Release”,”entry_permalink”:”https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/post-a-press-release\/”,”feedback_id”:”1d0570bb8e77cc8357d1e5b3d8d5b042″}