Customer service calls on hold resulted in 15 bn hours loss for Indians in 2023: Report

New Delhi, July 31: Customer service calls on hold resulted in a massive loss of 15 billion hours for Indians last year, resulting in likely $55 billion in economic loss output, a report revealed on Wednesday.

An average person spends more than one day each year on hold to address an issue or complaint (30.7 hours), according to new research from the AI platform ServiceNow.

Slow service solutions mean the average employee is spending 3.9 days to resolve each customer issue, the report noted.

"Indian businesses are at risk of losing two-thirds of their customer base in 2024 due to slow service solutions," said Sumeet Mathur, SVP and Managing Director, ServiceNow India Technology and Business Centre.

Structural problems are pushing wait times further with 48 per cent of Indians identifying inefficient internal communication as a major issue for customer service delays, while 47 per cent say customer service staff lack decision-making power.

About 66 per cent of respondents said they would consider switching to another company if their issue is not resolved within three working days.

"Businesses that can't meet that standard must act, installing AI-powered self-service options available at the consumers' fingertips," Mathur added.

Over half of Indians say their trust in chatbots (55 per cent) and self-help guides (56 per cent) has also increased.

The study showed a notable surge in trust towards AI among Indians, with two-thirds (66 per cent) expressing confidence in GenAI to deliver good customer service.

"In an era where customer retention is increasingly challenging, it is time for enterprises to put AI to work and drive growth, improve efficiency, and deliver superior customer experiences in a competitive business landscape," said Mathur.

Close to 60 per cent of Indians would like to see customer service teams improve their speed of resolution while half would like to see a reduction in the time spent on hold, the findings showed.