#102: customers are giving fake names for your records

Happy?Friday?and welcome to This Week in CX! We're bringing you our roundup of industry news summarised in an exclusive LinkedIn newsletter. For more detail on any news featured here, check out 'This week in CX' on the Customer Experience Magazine (CXM)?website .

This week, we’ve been looking at the latest research in AI plans for customer service, inclusive technology for vulnerable customers, errors in customer records, and more.

Customer service decline finds brands and shoppers more disconnected than ever

New research has found that the average quality of customer service is on the decline, as brands and UK shoppers are more disconnected than ever.

A recent study by CommBox found that while nearly all business respondents (90%) believed their serviced met customer expectations, only 43% of customers were satisfied with it. This was in relation to customer service over the past year.

87% of dissatisfied customers will take action following a negative customer service experience, the research found. As a result, over half would avoid spending anymore money with the brand, and nearly a third would seek out a competitor.

The research also revealed what customers are particularly dissatisfied with. Long wait times was the biggest pain point for customer service (43%). The inability to speak directly to a human agent (37%) and using chatbots that can’t solve queries (36%) indicated ongoing frustrations with automation and AI chatbot technology.

To counter this, the research revealed that customers are ultimately seeking a balance in two core areas from brands: speed and availability. For this, 80% of customer responders want to see AI utilised practically to resolve issues of speed and agent knowledge.

Calls for inclusive technology to assist vulnerable customers

Derry City Strabane District Council (in Northern Ireland) has called for the hospitality sector to include more QR codes to help visually impaired customers.

The hope is that this would encourage blind or partially-sighted people to visit more restaurants independently, without relying on the aid of someone else.

This important and revolutionary notion indicates to us the importance of building inclusive tools to assist vulnerable customers. With the help of developing technologies, such as AI platforms, the ability to build digital assistance for those who need it has never been simpler.

Furthermore, this news is significant to our industry as it opens up the conversation of developing more inclusive customer service options. With this, we will build up a better customer experience for all and help vulnerable consumers to feel part of brand practices.

More than a quarter of customer records contain errors and fake names

Sagacity?has revealed the findings from analysis of 140 million customer records which shows that a massive 28% of them contain errors.

Taking a deep dive on a sample of one million retail customer records that had been flagged as having errors, Sagacity found that:

• 90%?of the errors related to the customer’s address – with 15% having multiple errors
• 10%?contained errors in the name

Many of the incorrect names in retailer databases are not mistakes – with customers deliberately giving fake names.

Sagacity says these tend to fall into three categories: 60% tend to be spoof names (often relating to celebrities or popular culture), 35% are profanities, while 5% are ‘gibberish’ (e.g. First name given as ‘Aaaaa’).

• The UK’s cybersecurity industry continues to be dominated by men, according to research from LinkedIn’s Economic Graph team. In May 2024, women made up just 17.9% of the industry, while men accounted for 82.1%. Cybersecurity is dominated by men due to a combination of historical, cultural and systematic factors, according to cybersecurity expert and LinkedIn Top Voice Jane Frankland.

• OpenAI has started rolling out ChatGPT’s Advanced Voice Mode to some users — months after the “hyperrealistic” audio responses sparked controversy for perceived similarities to Scarlett Johansson’s title character in the 2013 film. The new feature for GPT-4o, the latest version of ChatGPT, will be offered to all Plus users by the fall. OpenAI says it can even sense emotions in a user’s voice. Advanced Voice Mode will be limited to four voices created with paid actors; the Johansson-like “Sky” voice has been dropped, though OpenAI said it wasn’t taken from the actress.

• Many of the Olympic events in Paris are taking place during the working day. While most LinkedIn members will resist the urge to watch the Games live, more than a fifth will tune in while they work, a new LinkedIn News poll finds. Some, who work remotely, plan to emulate what normally happens in their office and have the television on mute, so they can watch without too much distraction. Others say they’ll keep the commentary on, replacing the music they usually listen to during the working day. More dedicated sports fans have taken it a step further and booked time off especially for the Games.

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