Chinanews.com, May 16 According to the website of Hong Kong's Ming Pao Daily News, with the rapid development of science and technology, many companies have launched digital platforms in recent years, such as websites and mobile applications (Apps), to provide information for customers. A recent survey released by the Hong Kong Association for Customer Service Excellence shows that 70 percent of respondents will browse companies' official websites or download apps to use customer services. Respondents mainly believe that digital platforms enable them to obtain clear information faster and anytime anywhere.
In 2018, the Hong Kong Association for Customer Service Excellence interviewed 500 citizens who had used customer services in the previous year. 70 percent of the respondents said they would browse companies' websites or download relevant apps, which is 11 percentage points higher than the 59 percent recorded in the association's 2017 survey, reflecting that more people use digital customer services.
Freddie Ching, chairman of the Hong Kong Association for Customer Service Excellence, believes that when developing applications, enterprises should consider whether the programs are practical. "It is not merely for publicity and promotion, but has to be useful for customers," he said. For example, the chatbot function that can answer general inquiries will become a general trend.
The survey also found that 80 percent of respondents still choose to call and communicate with real human customer service when they have urgent inquiries, because human customer service is "easier to reach", "better understands customers' needs" and "more capable of solving problems".
Freddie Ching said that the survey results show that when customers encounter complex problems, they still tend to turn to real human services for solutions, which reflects that frontline customer service staff still play an extraordinary role that cannot be replaced. The association hopes that enterprises can help frontline customer service employees transform and add value in the future, so that they can focus on handling difficult customer service problems.