A study published by ZenDesk in 2022 included only data on customers in Brazil and Mexico, but the results are worth reviewing:
- 43% of Brazilian and Mexican consumers said that customer service is a secondary concern for companies
- 70% said that their expectations of customer service have increased in the past year
- 97% say they want to spend more with companies that personalize customer service
- 96% say they are willing to spend more with companies that allow them to find the answers they are looking for on their own
While Zendesk’s study only covers two Latin American countries, another study from HubSpot surveyed consumers from Mexico, Chile and Colombia, finding that:
Colombia
- 20% of Colombian consumers feel totally satisfied with the customer service they receive, even though 89% of customer experience leaders in Colombia say that customer services is their “top priority”
- 16% of Colombian companies included in the survey still don’t have programs or methodologies for listening to their customers or receiving feedback from them
Chile
- 19.3% of Chileans reported that they were totally satisfied by the customer service they receive from companies
- 29.1% of customer experience leaders in Chile say that customer service and satisfaction is a top priority
- 43% of Chilean companies included in the survey reported that their companies still don’t have programs or methodologies for listening to their customers or receiving feedback from them
Mexico
- 18.6% of Mexican consumers reported that they were totally satisfied by the customer service they receive from companies
- 87.3% of customer experience leaders in Mexico say that customer service and satisfaction is a top priority
- 43% of Chilean companies included in the survey reported that their companies still don’t have programs or methodologies for listening to their customers or receiving feedback from them
Another telling data point about customer service comes from Oracle Retail, which published research results in 2022 that indicated that bad customer service would drive 39% of Mexican and Brazilian consumers to shop at a different brand.
Ideas for Improving Service—at Least for Banks
One thing these studies did not explore in detail is what companies can do to offer BETTER customer service.
Those ideas actually came up in a different study on customer service. Done in 2022, it was focused on banks. Mitto surveyed bank customers from Peru, Argentina, Mexico and Colombia, finding that:
- 45% said their negative experiences with their banks were due to poor customer service, while 35% said negative experiences came from poor communication methods from banks and 22.3% cited outdated technology
- 60% go to branches to resolve problems because they don’t receive efficient or timely responses from their banks via digital means
- 34% would prefer to communicate with their banks through the banks’ WhatsApp accounts
- 39.1% would open a bank account if a bank offered easy assistance through WhatsApp or SMS
The factors behind positive banking experiences, as per the surveyed customers, include:
- The ability to have multichannel communication (36.8%)
- Real-time payments (40.7%)
- Fast response times (38.8%)
- Good customer service (37.8%)
Next Steps
Contact us to find out more about how we can help you identify challenges with customer service in your company and find practical solutions that will help you obtain — and retain — more customers.
