Social networks and Internet self-service are estimated to reach growth rates of around 30% in the next few years, to the detriment of the telephone and face-to-face channels that lose relevance and are more expensive.

Social networks have taken center stage in the Hall Customer Relationship + Call Center with the presentation of the results of the study “Trends in New Channels of Customer Service” developed jointly by the companies IFAES, eCUSTOMER and the collaboration of the Department of Applied Economics of the University of Alcalá de Henares (UAH). This is the first report of these characteristics prepared and in which the 138 companies- more than 55,000 tele-operation positions- of the most important Customer Service and Contact Centers in the country have participated. Some of its most relevant conclusions are summarized below.

From the telephone to social networks and Internet self-service

According to the study and based on the trends analyzed for the coming years, the Internet will take full ownership as a priority customer service channel. It is estimated that social networks and self-service, or “self service” by Internet, reach growth figures of up to 30% in the next two years. The telephone and face-to-face channels will reduce their weight in the total volume of requests received from customers.

All the surveyed companies coincide in pointing out that the changes experienced by the customer service model will result in a significant drop in the costs associated with the telephone channel compared to the relative growth in expenses and investments associated with the new remote service channels. Both combined effects will bring significant savings to companies.

Increase in customer satisfaction

The forecasts on the impact generated by the arrival of the new 2.0 service channels are optimistic; for 86% of the companies surveyed, social networks increase customer satisfaction. More generally, a general increase in the quality of all care channels is foreseen, although practically unchanged in the case of the telephone and face-to-face channels.

Sectors that lead their integration

Although the use of social networks as a customer service channel is at a very early stage of maturity, the study clearly identifies those sectors that are most actively adopting social networks as a channel of interaction with customers; in this way, the sectors of “Automotive”, “Telecommunications” or “Technology” – in particular software in the latter – are at the forefront in terms of implementation; “Energy-Distribution”, on the other hand, is identified as the sector with the lowest index in terms of penetration of the new channels. Overall, 27% of these companies surveyed are managing their contacts through Social Networks for their clients, a figure that reaches 40% in the case of those who claim to be preparing for it.

Profile of applications and areas of the company that serves them

In the companies that provide services from social networks, the profile of requests – or areas of action from the operator’s plan – is broad, although the “Product Consultations” and “Customer Service” (general) stand out. The “Technical Support” is the area with the lowest current utilization rate of social networks.

The areas that serve these requests from social networks are Marketing, Communication and Contact Centers; The level of outsourcing is very small.