More than 18 percent of North American consumers reported that the last interaction with a retail contact center fell short of their expectations, and less than 37 percent of retailers exceeded customer expectations.

Going holiday shopping at the mall used to be as traditional as hanging mistletoe and drinking eggnog. But the abundance of easy-to-use catalog and online options have many consumers picking out the perfect gift from the comfort of their own homes. What does this mean for retailers? Well, if their contact centers had made Santa's nice list instead of his naughty one, it could mean less coal and more revenue in their stockings.

According to recent Aspect Contact Center Satisfaction Surveys of 1,000 consumers, company interactions are failing to meet their expectations. Overall, North American consumers, on average, gave contact centers a barely-passing grade of a D+ (on a scale from A+ to F), with a full quarter of interactions deemed as failures. North American consumers reported that 23 percent of their telephone, email or online chat interactions fell short of expectations.

In fact, more than 18 percent of North American consumers reported that the last interaction with a retail contact center fell short of their expectations, and less than 37 percent of retailers exceeded customer expectations.

These surveys, conducted by independent research firm Leo J. Shapiro & Associates, found that if companies continue to ignore the demands of their customers, they are putting them at risk of leaving for other businesses. With the peak season for the retail industry fast approaching, retailers need to improve the relationship with their customers and invest in their customer interaction strategies or risk losing customers altogether.

Consumer demands are not unreasonable:

• Consumers both want to deal with knowledgeable and informed agents (72 percent of customers in North America rated this to be extremely important) that speak clearly and are easy to understand.

• Of all of the characteristics that were measured for the survey, consumers rated the people-related characteristics the highest (agent attributes such as friendly, professional or patient), giving them an average of 70 percent.

• Consumers were less satisfied with efficiency characteristics (for example, ability to resolve issue in single interaction) and automation capabilities (easily access a person from an automated menu) of the contact center.

Not surprisingly, while consumers are most satisfied with the people-related measures, there is still a long way to go to improve that area. Research indicates that consumers are interested in interactions that facilitate human contact, interacting with contact centers whose agents are patient, act professionally and take responsibility for resolving issues. They also want their inquiries to be answered quickly and their problems resolved swiftly. This holiday season, the retailers that will be the most successful will look outside-the-box at the classic measures of contact center performance -- maximizing the number and speed of interactions -- since this is often contrary to the goal of providing patient and thorough resolution of the consumer's issues.

Data also points out that consumers highly value empathetic agents who can act as their advocate within the business. If these agent-related grades are to be improved, contact center managers must increase their focus on agent staffing, training, measurement and matching consumers to the right agent accurately.

During the holiday season, successful businesses will realize the importance of the contact center in strengthening their relationship with their customers and will manage the contact center accordingly. When shopping via catalog or the Internet, consumers won't have patience for long hold times to deal directly with an agent, or wait while agents struggle to locate their shopping history or worse, deal with contact center agents that aren't familiar with company policies or procedures.

Consumers will turn to those retailers that can provide knowledgeable, patient agents, as well as thorough and quick resolution of consumer issues. By investing in proper agent training and the right contact center capabilities, retailers will ensure a happy holiday season and increased customer loyalty for the New Year and beyond.

Source: 2006 Aspect Contact Center Satisfaction Survey Europe and 2005 Aspect Contact Center Satisfaction Survey (North America)