42% Indians willing to pay premium for prompt customer service

Mumbai: Nearly 42 percent of customers are willing to pay a premium for a prompt service, according to a survey commissioned by American Express.

The online survey, conducted by Kantar IMRB on behalf of American Express, found that if a premium had to be paid, 53 per cent of the respondents would pay a premium of 20-40 per cent in return for better customer service.

The survey, titled 'decoding customer service for Indian customers', was conducted among 1,577 urban customers across Hyderabad, Chennai, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Pune, Kolkata and Delhi-NCR in July.

The respondents were defined on the basis of ownership of credit card, type of TV, type of phone, cars owned, vacations in India and abroad, frequency of fine dining and frequency of air travel.

It noted that 31 per cent of the respondents would be willing to pay for service that listens to them or acts on their feedback, while 27 per cent would be willing to pay premium for service that is available everywhere.

Customer service experience, along with consistent quality, is imperative for any brand to retain customers, it found, as 66 percent of consumers said they would discontinue using a brand or product due to poor customer service. Also, 71 percent of those surveyed said they would stop using a product or service if its quality depreciates.

Almost 83 percent of the respondents said they would pay a premium for a brand that keeps its promise.

Being present on social media and garnering positive traction has become imperative for brands, it observed, as 80 percent respondents said they discover and learn about brands through social media.

Indian consumers prefer digital ways of interacting with the brands, as 81 per cent prefer to access product information digitally.

It noted that 48 per cent prefer resolving their queries online, while 47 per cent prefer resolving queries over a phone call or SMS.

Besides quick access to customer care, consumers also wanted their experience to be delivered in a safe and secure environment, according to the findings.

The survey noted that 54 per cent of the respondents wanted the brands to incorporate more mobile security and authentication features.