Here are some of the report's key findings

The service gap

30 MIN

Time 63% of agents believe it takes their organisation to resolve an average customer service issue.

4.5 DAYS

Average time a customer says it takes to resolve an issue.   

New Zealanders spent 26 million hours
waiting to make a customer service complaint or resolve an issue in the last 12 months.   

What do customers want?

cross-channel
Seamless cross-channel experiences

Customers interact with brands across up to 7 different channels.

61%
Self-service

61% prefer to use self-service first before calling on the phone.

ease-of-contact
Round-the-clock access

44% would like a 24/7 contact option.

54%
AI-powered efficiency

54% have used AI in everyday life.

What happens when organisations don't deliver?

Cost
82%
of customers would request a refund due to poor service.
Criticism
62%
of customers would leave a negative social media review following a poor experience.
Churn
60%
of customers would turn away from a business that is hard to contact
Top factors turning customers away:
  • high prices

    67%

    High prices

  • hold-services

    60%

    Difficulty getting in contact

  • lock-of

    46%

    Lack of human empathy

What is holding customer service agents back?

70% of agents enjoy helping people and resolving challenges. BUT their ability to deliver is hampered by:

01 Too many systems

Using disparate, siloed systems for customer management affects efficiency and insight.

21%

Only 21% of organisations have integrated systems.

Agents login to 2.5 systems on average to answer a customer query.

10%

10% of agents rely on more than 5 systems per customer interaction.

02 Inefficiency

cross-channel

1 DAY

An agent only spends around 1 day in a typical work week (22%) actively resolving customer issues.

cross-channel
   Resolving customer issues

03 Limited visibility

Most agents lack a full picture of the customer, or reliable access to information about how queries are resolved, as they are typically disconnected from the operations, finance, and logistics teams which action customer resolutions.

04 Lack of support

32% of agents say delays in receiving responses or support from other teams is their #1 frustration.  

AI has a growing role to play

74%

of customers say AI's greatest benefit is after-hours service.

24%

of agents say AI gives them more time to help customers.

role-to-play
role-to-play

27%

of agents believe AI could help them do a better job.

However, just 13% of organisations currently use AI for customer service.

PUT AI AGENTS TO WORK

FOR PEOPLE

AI Agents are the next big leap in AI.

They can think, learn, solve problems and make decisions autonomously — working on behalf of your teams, elevating their productivity and potential.

Imagine a team of ServiceNow AI Agents proactively solving challenges for your customers. These AI agents collaborate, learn from each other and continuously improve, handling the busy work so your teams can focus on what truly matters.

Close the gap between
what customers expect and agents can deliver with ServiceNow

  • ServiceNow is the AI platform for business transformation, bringing data + AI + workflow automation to every corner of your business.

  • Reinvent customer service using AI to accelerate self-service, boost responsiveness, and reduce resolution time.