Customer Service Statistics

We've compiled some of the latest customer service statistics from current reports, as well as unique data from our survey of over 1,000 Americans.

Key findings

• The customer experience management market was valued at $12.05 billion in 2023 and is expected to grow to $52.54 billion by 2030.
• There are 2.87 million customer service representatives in the U.S., earning a median wage of $37,780 per year.
• Three-quarters (75.5%) of consumers have switched from one business to another because of poor customer service.
• Half of consumers (49.8%) would choose to use companies that have human customer service agents rather than AI (37.9%) or a mix of both (12.3%).
• However, just over half (52.1%) of consumers do admit that AI chatbots make it easier to get help with their requests, while 41% say they make it more difficult.
• It takes two bad experiences with a company for most people (43.9%) to switch to another, but 17.5% of people would switch after just one negative experience.
• In the U.S., businesses risk losing $846 billion worth of sales in 2024 as a result of poor customer service.
• More than half (55%) of consumers would forgive a company's bad customer service if their products are good enough.
• Most people (63.7%) would wait on hold with customer services for 20 or 30 minutes before becoming annoyed, while 17.9% would get annoyed after just 10 minutes.
• 36.7% of people have felt frustrated when speaking to a company's customer service team, while 29.2% have felt angry, and 9.6% have felt embarrassed.

Customer service market size

The global customer experience management market size was valued at $16.91 billion in 2023, a 13.1% increase from $14.95 billion in 2022. The market is predicted to grow to $52.54 billion by 2030 at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 15.4% between 2023 and 2030.

How many people work in customer service?

The latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that in 2022 there were 2.87 million customer service representatives employed in the U.S. They make a median annual wage of $37,780 or an hourly annual wage of $18.16. Most workers in this role work within the Business Support Service Industry.

Texas has the highest number of customer service representatives in the U.S. with 325,840 which is 11.3% of the total workforce in this job role.

Consumer experiences with customer services

If you've ever purchased something and it arrived broken, you received a completely different product, or it didn't turn up at all, you'll probably have dealt with a customer service team to get the problem resolved.

Here are some statistics on people's experiences with customer service teams.

Almost two-thirds of people have positive customer service experiences

The majority of people (63.2%) say that the customer service offered by companies they deal with is generally good, while 14.7% say it is generally excellent. Only 2.9% said that the customer service offered by companies they deal with is generally poor or very poor, while 19.2% think it is usually average.

Customer service impacts people's buying decisions

Three-quarters (75.5%) of people have switched from one business to another because of poor customer service, and a similar number (74.5%) said that poor customer service from a company would encourage them to switch to a competitor.

A further 80.7% of people say that an excellent customer service experience would encourage them to purchase from a company again.

In addition to this, more than half (54.5%) of consumers say they would purchase from a brand that was more expensive than others because they had a better customer service reputation.

The vast majority (96.7%) of people say that a personalized experience is important or very important to them when dealing with a company's customer service team.

It takes two bad experiences with a company for people to switch

Most people (43.9%) said that two negative experiences with a company would encourage them to switch to another. However, for 17.5% of people, their patience is thinner: They are prepared to move to a competitor after just one negative experience.

Those with the most patience, and for whom it would take five or more poor customer service experiences account for 1.7% of respondents.

Telephone is the preferred method of customer service communication

The most common way people choose to access companies' customer services is over the phone, with one in five (21.1%) people saying this is their preferred option. That's no doubt one reason why so many companies manage customer service calls via call center software. The next most popular contact method is email (16.9%), followed by in-person contact (15.4%).

Consumers who use customer service live chat prefer to speak with a human agent (13%) rather than an AI chatbot (8.5%).

The use of AI in customer service

AI is used in the customer service industry in a variety of ways; some of the most common include AI chatbots that respond to customer requests, generative AI tools that help to write responses to customers, and tools that connect customers with the right personnel.

Just over half (52.1%) of consumers like using AI chatbots

When asked their opinion of AI chatbots being used in customer service journeys, 52.1% of consumers said that chatbots make it easier to get help with their requests, while 41% said they made it more difficult to get help.

Echoing this sentiment, just under half (49.8%) of people say they would be most likely to deal with companies that use human customer service agents, compared to 37.9% who would choose companies with AI customer service, and 12.3% who like a mix of both.

The majority of people (53.9%) say they would rate the customer service they have received from AI chatbots as good, while 18.7% would rate them very good. Just 5.1% said they would rate them poor or very poor.

Using AI for different aspects of customer service

Companies use AI to manage a variety of customer service requests, and customers are mostly happy to use AI, but not for everything.

The most common thing people are happy for AI to manage is getting refunds (38%), followed by making complaints (26.5%). Only 1% of consumers would be happy for an AI bot to manage product returns for them.

Benefits of AI in customer service

Data from one study found that using AI chatbots to respond to customer requests saves customer service workers an average of 2 hours and 20 minutes per day. Those who use generative AI to write responses to customer requests save 2 hours and 11 minutes per day on average.

Using chatbots and other AI tools also allows companies to provide a 24/7 service to customers. Service leaders and agent-level representatives reported in 2022 that their biggest challenge was needing more time in the day to deal with requests.

Customer expectations of customer service

The level of customer service provided by companies we deal with can have an impact on our opinions of them, but what exactly are customers' expectations for customer service?

96.5% of people say a fast customer service response is important

Almost all consumers (96.5%) say that a fast response is important or very important to them when dealing with a company's customer service team. Seven in ten (72.1%) would be more likely to use a company again if they resolved a complaint or query quickly. Additionally, 36.8% said that slow responses to customer service requests created a poor experience for them.

A quarter of people expect a complaint to be resolved within 30 minutes

Most consumers (37.2%) expect a company's customer service team to resolve their query within 4 hours, but a quarter (26.3%) expect a resolution to their query within 30 minutes. On the other hand, the same number of people (26.3%) say they expect customer service requests to be resolved within 12 hours.

People will wait 20-30 minutes on hold before becoming annoyed

When accessing customer services over the phone, one-third (33%) of people would wait on hold for 20 minutes before getting annoyed, and 30.7% would wait 30 minutes. 17.9% of people would get annoyed after just 10 minutes of waiting on hold, while 6.1% would wait over one hour before they got frustrated with waiting.

Two-thirds (64%) said that if they had to wait on hold for more than 30 minutes, it would put them off using the same company again.

Poor customer service

We've all experienced poor customer service when dealing with a company, whether it's in a store or restaurant, or online and over the phone. But what exactly do people classify as a negative customer experience?

Four in ten (38.4%) of people said that late delivery of products or services would amount to a poor customer experience for them, while 36.8% said slow responses from customer services, and 35.4% said receiving a broken product.

One-third of consumers (33.2%) of consumers said having to explain their problem to multiple employees constituted a negative experience for them, while 17.8% cited repeated call transfers as poor customer service.

How poor customer service impacts businesses

Having a negative experience with a company's customer service team can put someone off using that company again. The extent of this loss will vary from company to company, but according to Qualtrics XM, businesses in the U.S. risk losing $846 billion per year as a result of bad customer experiences turning customers away.

The same study found that $2.8 trillion worth of sales could be put at risk across 25 countries as customers reported reduced spending with a company after 38% of poor experiences, while they stopped spending completely after 13% of bad experiences.

People expect poor customer service from some companies

There are certain establishments that people have lower expectations of when it comes to customer service. 37.4% of people say they expect to receive poor customer service from large supermarkets, while 35.4% expect it from super low price online stores.

55% of people would forgive bad customer service for good products

While poor customer service puts a lot of people off from using a company, there are some things that consumers will make exceptions for.

Over half (55%) of consumers said that they would forgive bad customer service if the products they offered were particularly good. 44.6% said they would continue to use the company if their prices were better than their competitors, and 36.4% would keep using the company just for convenience.

How people feel when dealing with customer services

More than one-third (36.7%) of people have felt frustrated when speaking to a customer service representative, and a similar amount (36.5%) have felt exhausted.

A further 29.2% have felt angry, and 9.6% even felt embarrassed when speaking to a company's customer services team.

The future of customer service

The landscape of customer service and customer experience has changed in recent years due to advancements in AI, a greater focus on personalization, and the creation of seamless customer journeys. It's clear that consumers value speed when it comes to customer service requests, as well as a more personal approach to their queries or complaints.

Going forward, it's likely that companies will adopt a hybrid approach, using AI to answer simple queries and route customers to the right department, with human agents handling more complex issues.

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