17 "Must-Know" Customer Service Stats & Trends from 272 Experts

Customer support is changing. Over the last two years, our team has seen this shift firsthand. Customer expectations have heightened. Companies are generating massive amounts of data. Teams are relying on software to stay up to speed.

If there's one thing we want you to take away from this customer service trends report, it's that customer support isn't going anywhere, and it continues to get more complex. Having the right processes and tools to supercharge your team is the only way to adapt quickly to these changes.

In this report, we’ll take a look at:

1. Challenges and trends: What's driving the shift toward automation/self-service, and what it means for support teams.
2. The impact of software: How companies are struggling with the wrong tools today, and why having the right tool for your company matters.
3. Deep dive into support tools: A deep dive into the strengths and weaknesses of different support tools and the stage and size of companies they serve best.‍
4. Support agent compensation: The importance of above-market comp and how much support agents are paid today.

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Important Customer Service Trends Uncovered In Our Study

Here's a quick summary:

1. Half of all customer support teams face the challenge of being unprepared for customer questions.
2. 1 out of 2 customer support agents struggle with taking too long to find information, causing unnecessary delays in resolving customer issues.
3. A whopping 89% of support professionals agree that having the right software is key to addressing customer challenges effectively.
4. Customer support software has a significant impact on the happiness of support teams, with 90% of professionals saying that it measurably affects their satisfaction with their jobs.
5. Nearly 4 in 10 support professionals feel that they lack the proper customer support software to do their jobs effectively.
6. In the event of a poor support experience, over half of companies provide monetary compensation to make things right.
7. Companies risk losing customer advocates even if they manage to retain the customer after a poor support experience, with 65% of companies reporting this outcome.
8. More than half of companies lose the customer completely after a poor support experience, highlighting the importance of effective customer support.
9. A poor support experience can leave customers feeling lost and upset, according to 66% of companies surveyed.
10. Over half of companies surveyed plan to upgrade their customer support software to prepare for upcoming trends in the industry.
11. A cohesive team that works together effectively is considered one of the most important traits of an effective customer support organization, according to 69% of survey respondents.
12. Hands-on training and the use of great software are both essential characteristics of an effective customer support organization, according to 58% of survey respondents.
13. Customer support software has a significant impact on the happiness of support teams, with 90% of professionals saying that it measurably affects their satisfaction with their jobs.
14. Self-service options, automation, personalized experiences, and measuring customer outcomes are poised to become major trends in the customer support industry.

Want to get deeper insights? Continue reading the full study below.

Survey demographics

Between August and September 2022, we surveyed 272 respondents who work in customer support and IT. They were all decision-makers or influencers in the support software buying process.

Industry mix:

• 38% Technology
• 13% SaaS
• 13% Retail
• 8% E-commerce
• 28% Other

Tenure:

• 10% C-Level/SVP
• 28% VP/Director
• 62% Manager

Department:

• 62% Customer Support
• 38% IT

Role in support software buying process:

• 37% Influencer
• 63% Decision-maker

Company revenue:

• 8% under $1M
• 28% between $1M-$10M
• 24% between $10M-$100M
• 19% between $100M-$500M
• 10% between $500M-$1B
• 7% above $1B

Full-time employee headcount:

• 21% under 100
• 15% between 100-250 
• 20% between 251-500
• 19% between 501-999
• 14% between 1000-5,000
• 9% above 5,000

Full-time agent headcount:

• 29% under 20
• 21% between 20-50
• 27% between 51-100
• 15% between 101-500
• 7% above 500

Average number of support tickets each day:

• 13% under 25
• 16% between 25-50
• 11% between 51-75
• 20% between 76-100
• 21% between 101-500
• 9% between 501-1000
• 6% above 1000

Findings are supplemented by analysis on a dataset of over 30,000 companies that tracks support tools used over time.

Challenges and trends

Agent preparedness, turnover, and software are particularly painful issues for support teams today

For individual agents, not having enough time to find information is a major roadblock.

Lack of preparedness for customer questions is cited as the number-one issue teams face today, with 50% of respondents highlighting it as a top difficulty.  

This is unsurprising. When asked what day-to-day issues individual agents run into, many highlighted that it takes too long to find information (51%), they don't have enough time to do their own research (43%), and it takes too long to check with other individuals in the company (37%). 

One thing is clear: Agent time is a constraint. As such, companies must be highly efficient and coordinated in dealing with customer issues. 

69% of respondents noted that having a cohesive team that works together is a top trait in an effective support org. 58% noted both having hands-on training and using great software as other top characteristics.

Combining these factors: A supportive team culture, training, and the right software all come together to minimize the chance that agents will be underprepared. 

This can even help in other ways as well: 90% of customer support pros say their customer support software significantly or somewhat impacts their team's happiness.

Automation and self-service are becoming critical in support

Self-service, automation, measuring customer outcomes, and providing personalized experiences are primed to become trends that reshape the support industry.

As a result, companies are preparing for these trends in a variety of ways.

56% of those surveyed noted that they will be upgrading their software to prepare.  However, organizations are also building out internal materials and processes (55%) and training agents on new activities (52%) in anticipation of the shift toward these trends, which will require new ways of working.

Phone, email, and human-supported live chat are still the most used and important support channels

Support teams are seeing immense value in live human-supported chat and are likely to continue leaning into traditional channels over social and bots.

Software companies are already paving the way in harnessing the knowledge base as a key, self-serve support channel

Knowledge bases are likely to continue growing as an important channel for SaaS companies to better support their customers.

The impact of software

Poor customer support still happens surprisingly often:

• 42% say customers have a poor support experience with their organization either very frequently or somewhat frequently.
• Only 3% say a poor support experience never happens.

And when the experience is poor:

• 57% provide monetary compensation to right the situation every, most, or some of the time.
• 65% lose customer advocates even if they retain the customer every, most, or some of the time.
• 55% lose the customer completely every, most, or some of the time.
• 66% say customers feel lost and upset every, most, or some of the time.

Customer support software is frequently the reason for poor support experiences.

• 89% of support pros say having the right software is critical for customer challenges.
• 90% of support pros say their support tool meaningfully impacts their team's happiness.
• 39% feel they don’t have the right customer support software.

Unsurprisingly, a massive challenge is keeping track of customer information — a problem exacerbated by poor software.

While large companies struggle to keep track of customer information, smaller ones don't have enough resourcing to build out customer materials.

Deep dive into support tools

Ease of use, implementation, and integrations are top factors when selecting software.

Different support tools spike on different use cases. Some use cases tend to be more core.

Companies bring tools on early and often switch.

Companies often feel pressure to bring on their first support tool as they begin to approach 20 employees. Before they do so, they may notice disorganization, which can manifest in issues like multiple employees responding to one customer question or a lack of coordination on who responds to what. Employees typically start to find it hard to keep track of all customer tickets.

Simultaneously, leaders will also start to demand the ability to analyze support data. Examples include stats on the level of service being provided and whether customers are satisfied.  

These are signals that often prompt a company to buy their first tool, which may serve them well in their early stages. However, with growth, companies often then require enterprise-grade tools and switch again.

As companies grow, their tooling needs to shift.

90% believe the buying process could be easier by being able to:

• Trial before talking to a sales rep.
• Have fewer sales calls.
• Learn first through side-by-side comparison guides.

Support agent compensation

Above-market compensation is often required for getting top agent talent. $75k is a typical salary.

Norms look similar in the software industry, with many believing they must offer above market compensation.

Finding the right support software

Our findings paint a bold future for customer support — a future only achievable through the power of software.

Here at TestBox, we're passionate about changing the way you buy software, whether it's customer support or other mission-critical tools.

We put you in the driver's seat by letting you test different products side-by-side — for free. Let us help you on your next evaluation: experience the future of software buying with TestBox.