SAN FRANCISCO--()--Zendesk, an on-demand help desk solution, declared today Love Your Help Desk Day and released the results of a new survey conducted by Harris Interactive® among 1,002 U.S. adults ages 18+ between November 20th and 23rd, 2009. The survey results show that, even in the midst of a difficult economic climate, service and support is critical and should not be treated as an afterthought. In fact, 79 percent of U.S. adults said that, when they receive good customer service, it makes them more loyal to the company and 57 percent said they would be equally or more likely to talk about a good customer service experience than a good deal on a product or service.
“Our help desk is an essential connection with our customers; we couldn’t live without it for a single day”
Last week, in an effort to raise awareness around the changing role of the help desk, Zendesk encouraged companies to give their help desk agents the entire day off today. In reality, no company could actually survive 24 hours without their help desk, which is why Zendesk launched LoveYourHelpDesk.com, a new customer service resource on the Web to help companies better understand the potential of their customer service help desk.
"Were we able to convince companies to give their help desks the day off today? Well, no, of course not," said Mikkel Svane, CEO of Zendesk. "In fact, no one was willing to part with their help desk for even an hour and I understand why. The results of our survey show that, whether they’re securing a customer for life or attracting new customers via positive word-of-mouth, help desks are becoming the sales force of tomorrow. We’re committed to ensuring that every company out there understands that the future of the customer relationship is in the hands of the help desk service and support people. I think LoveYourHelpDesk.com is a good start."
“Our help desk is an essential connection with our customers; we couldn’t live without it for a single day,” said Alex Deve, vice president of Six Apart. “We are obsessively focused on exceptional customer support to drive our future business. The ‘Love Your Help Desk’ campaign is a great way to recognize the importance of customer service.”
Other findings of the Zendesk survey include:
- Over one in three (38 percent) U.S. adults said that they feel surprised when they receive good customer service, which shows just how much potential there still is in improving this vital part of the customer interaction.
- More young people (ages 18-34) than any other age group said that good customer service made them feel peaceful – a sign that, for future generations of customers, help desks will play a key role in their visceral reaction to a product or company.
- Across the board, the poll found that customer service is very important to consumers in nearly every industry. However, when respondents were asked to prioritize in which industry customer service was most important, an overwhelming 47 percent chose the health care industry. Coming in a very distant second with 16 percent was the hospitality industry.
- Men are more likely to tell friends and family about a good customer service experience (38 percent) than women are (28 percent).
A related survey of customer service reps conducted by Zendesk found that the Internet is also changing customer service: 58 percent of customer service reps said that "customer service is the backbone of our organization" and expected that email would greatly outshine any other support channel in the future. Fifty nine percent answered that customers needed an answer within one hour to remain a happy customer.
Whether it's a small dedicated support team, the manager of an IT department or a lone entrepreneur starting a cool new Web site, one thing is clear: understanding the new role of the help desk and improving customer service is the key to success in tomorrow’s economy.
For more information visit:
About the Harris Survey
The Customer Service survey was conducted by telephone on behalf of Zendesk among 1,002 U.S. adults (ages 18+) between Nov. 20th and 23rd, 2009. For complete methodology, including weighing variables, please contact Rachael Horwitz, rhorwitz@cutline.com.
About Harris Interactive
Harris Interactive is one of the world’s leading custom market research firms, leveraging research, technology, and business acumen to transform relevant insight into actionable foresight. Known widely for the Harris Poll and for pioneering innovative research methodologies, Harris offers expertise in a wide range of industries including healthcare, technology, public affairs, energy, telecommunications, financial services, insurance, media, retail, restaurant, and consumer package goods. Serving clients in over 215 countries and territories through our North American, European, and Asian offices and a network of independent market research firms, Harris specializes in delivering research solutions that help us – and our clients – stay ahead of what’s next. For more information, please visit www.harrisinteractive.com.
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Delicious
Reddit
StumbleUpon
Digg
MySpace
Newsvine
Google Bookmark
Yahoo! Bookmark
Email
Email 
