Live chat vs. on call customer service, the impact on the customer satisfaction rate in Finland.

Abstract

This bachelor’s thesis was a study conducted for the Degree Programme International Business with the major being Customer Relationship management and communication. The research was aimed to answer the question of which customer service type has been superior to the other and what affect this has had on the customer satisfaction rate in Finland.

Theoretical framework was formed, which discussed the different customer service types as well as their importance of their role in support department. Furthermore, quantitative analysis was utilised via a questionnaire, which was shared to respondents mainly living in Finland. Additionally, qualitative analysis was applied via interviews, where the author was able to interview two interviewees, both having experience in the field of customer service. Through these analyses, sufficient amount of data was collected.

In regard to the results of the survey, the customer satisfaction rate relies mainly on the responsiveness of the support associates to the customers enquiries. From the interviews, the data gathered suggested, that from a business point of view, on-call support prevails due to cost efficiency, however from a customer point of view, which is more relevant to the topic, live chat has been customer service type receiving the majority of customer enquiries due to conveniency.

Finally, all of the data gathered was concluded and suggested, that even though, on call customer service can never be replaced due to its unique factors, live chat has been the customer service type, which has revolutionised the customer service landscape in Finland, being implemented by many companies in Finland over the past decade.