Bernadette Bennett, head of the legal sector at Moneypenny
By Legal Futures Associate Moneypenny
Young professionals value the human touch, speed of contact, and choice, but businesses are failing to meet their expectations.
Leading outsourced communications provider Moneypenny gathered these insights after talking with a young professionals networking group in its hometown of Wrexham.
The poll, intended to gauge the younger generation’s views on the future of customer care, how it’s changing, and what more can be done, highlighted where many businesses are failing.
Basic needs
The participants highlighted how quick response times and a variety of communication methods to choose from are among the top expectations of the businesses and companies they deal with – whether that’s in a professional capacity for work or as a customer.
When asked for examples of companies that had fallen short of their customer care expectations, the biggest frustrations were businesses that did not answer the phone, kept customers waiting with long hold times, and did not care or empathise when handling enquiries.
Bernadette Bennett, head of the legal sector at Moneypenny, said: “It’s interesting to see that so many young people’s gripes are centred on businesses not prioritising great customer care over the phone. Much is said about younger professionals being in the digital generation, but this reiterates the phone still matters to the next generation.”
Empathy, please
The poll also revealed how young professionals would like businesses to be more open to constructive feedback so that the customer experience evolves and improves. They also want firms to be more understanding of their needs.
“The need for empathy came through strongly, highlighting how important it is for young professionals to feel heard, seen and understood. When businesses demonstrate empathy and patience and listen to their customers, they build more meaningful relationships and can handle matters and resolve queries much more quickly.
“Younger professionals also expect improvement – they’re not willing to accept poor customer care and want to see businesses actively improving to meet their needs better. This expectation will be crucial to shaping the customer care experience of tomorrow.”
Tackling gripes
The biggest gripes when contacting a business were unhelpful people and chatbots.
Bernadette added: “ All customers want to feel valued and expect timely responses, especially over the phone. Organisations must offer, and digital is a crucial part of that mix, but they also expect a real-time experience with a helpful person at the end of the phone.”
The future of customer care
The group was also asked about their predictions for customer care over the next five years and how it might change. The resounding view was that Artificial Intelligence (AI) will play a much more significant role and that customer care will move entirely online.
Bernadette added: “As AI becomes more accessible to all, it will make it easier for businesses of all types to complete everyday tasks and resolve issues more quickly and efficiently, leaving people free to handle more complex challenges. By using data and AI to superpower people, there’s scope to overhaul the customer experience in the best possible way.
“At Moneypenny, we deliver outsourced communication solutions that blend AI’s efficiency with real people’s personal touch. This balanced approach boosts productivity and enhances customer satisfaction. We can certainly expect to see more businesses harnessing this approach.
“Whether customer care goes entirely online is to be seen – what is clear is that organisations will have to get better at having multi-channel conversations that flow naturally between voice and text so that customers can exert their choice and preference. Customer care and positive customer experiences rely on businesses taking the time to understand and meet their needs.
“Young professionals say businesses are falling short – so there is still much work to do.”
Established in 2000, Moneypenny is the world’s market leader for telephone answering, live chat, outsourced switchboard, and customer contact solutions. Thousands of businesses benefit from Moneypenny’s mix of extraordinary people and ground-breaking technology.
