Millennials: Why Customer Service Will Never Be The Same
While a recent study focuses on how consumers interact with brands, the results also hold lessons for IT in how to tailor internal tech support services to best meet the expectations of a multigenerational workforce.
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Millennials -- and to a lesser extent, older generations -- are changing how they want to interact with customer service, according to a recent study. While the study focuses on how consumers interact with brands, the results also hold lessons for IT in how to tailor internal tech support services to best meet the expectations of a multigenerational workforce.
An online survey of more than 2,000 US consumers conducted by Desk.com, a customer service platform offered by Salesforce, showed a preference to avoid customer service phone calls and engage in other communication methods, including texting, online chat, and social media.
Tech-savvy millennials, in particular, want to interact with customer service reps much the way they interact with their friends -- online and via text chat instead of phone calls. Generation Xers and baby boomers also prefer to avoid the traditional customer service call center.
The definition of which age groups make up these generations differs from study to study. For the purposes of this report, millennials are those aged 18-35; gen Xers are aged 36-55; and boomers are aged 56-65.
Millennials have high expectations for customer service communications overall, particuarly when it comes to how quickly a brand responds to their needs. This is driven partially by an understanding of what technology enables (instant communication and instant gratification) and by perceived failings in existing systems.
Check out the results of the survey and share with us in the comments section below whether you think your organization is meeting the customer service needs of its millennial customers or employees.
David has been writing on business and technology for over 10 years and was most recently Managing Editor at Enterpriseefficiency.com. Before that he was an Assistant Editor at MIT Sloan Management Review, where he covered a wide range of business topics including IT, ... View Full BioWe welcome your comments on this topic on our social media channels, or
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