WHO IS REALLY SURPRISED BY THIS?

With Customer Service, Real Person Trumps Text

Companies have rolled out numerous social-networking tools, instant messaging programs and text-messaging systems to handle customer-service inquiries. But even though increasing numbers of people are comfortable with new communications technology, it's apparently not how they want to interact with companies.
According to a survey by American Express Co., about 90% of respondents said they still want their inquiries handled by live representatives over the good old telephone.
That isn't to say that customers aren't open to newer communications methods. About half of customers said they like customer service delivered by online chat, and a little more than one-fifth said they would use social-networking sites, American Express found.

Bolstering the person-to-person ideal, 75% said they were very or somewhat interested in dealing with a person face-to-face. But a full 67% said they are fine going through a company website.
Coming in lowest: Only 20% of respondents said they were interested in an automated-response system on the phone.
About 70% of consumers in the survey said they are willing to spend more with a company that provides good customer service, indicating a shift in priorities from the year earlier.
Last year, only 58% of customers said that they would spend more for better customer service.
Some 15% of consumers said they would spend 20% more with companies with good service, versus only 5% who said so in 2010.
"[Consumers] are frustrated by service or a lack thereof," said Jim Bush, an executive vice president with American Express, who oversees customer service.
Companies have traditionally thought of customer service as a cost center, which made it a ripe target for cuts during the downturn, Mr. Bush said. That has contributed to increasing frustration among consumers at poor service in recent years, he added.
When automated or online services work, customers often like using them, but these services tend not to provide as much information and are rarely as empowered to fix problems as a call-center representative, said Mary Jo Bitner, director of the Center for Services Leadership at Arizona State University.
"A lot of times people don't realize how much they value service until a company takes it away," said Ms. Bitner. "Customers have seen companies cut service and are saying 'Wait a minute. I really do value that.'"
American Express conducted the survey of 1,018 consumers in February.