Is Email Undermining Your Customer Service?

By Katie Wike, contributing writer

Email is convenient, but a Kodak Alaris report suggests email may be setting you up for failure.

Does your customer service run on email? According to a Kodak Alaris-sponsored post on SFGate, this system leads to unanswered inquiries and dissatisfied customers.

Consumers contact customer service to seek support, compliment a business, or submit their complaints, so emails stuck in limbo waiting for a service representative to answer is not an option. Fierce Content Management explains customer demand for instant response is at an all-time high and email channels can’t stand up to the pressure.

“The problem is tied to the fact that interpreting emails effectively can be challenging. Customers often write emails in a hurry from their phones or tablets, so they're susceptible to spelling and grammatical mistakes – or in some cases, simply not making any sense. Emails also tend to feel less urgent than calls and are easier to neglect,” writes SFGate. In fact, only 30 percent of US customer emails are answered in one hour or less.

Only 12 percent of businesses believe email creates a high level of satisfaction. In total, email accounts for only 11.7 percent of all inbound interaction channels. Often, team members forward emails to each other and increase the chances of a message becoming misplaced or lost through the chain of communication.

“Delivering customer service via email can be complex, but it doesn’t have to be a burden. An advanced customer experience management solution fueled by semantic understanding frees up agents to give customers the timely, personalized experience they deserve — and that's a huge step toward improving customer service and loyalty,” concluded authors.