![Preferred Channel For Customer Service Inquiries, September 2014 [TABLE]](https://trends.e-strategyblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/182183.gif "Table - Preferred Channel For Customer Service Inquiries")
American Express found that social networks were hardly ever the preferred channel for making customer service inquiries.
For simple inquiries, the most preferred way to get help was via a company’s website or email, with speaking to a real person on the phone in a distant second. For difficult problems, nearly half of internet users wanted to talk to a human on the telephone, with face-to-face help coming in second with almost a quarter of respondents.
Meanwhile, only 5% of respondents wanted to use social networks for simple inquiries, with an even smaller 3% looking to solve hard problems via social.
For brands, this doesn’t necessarly mean it’s a good idea to start ignoring customers’ problems when they’re posted to social sites. But it may be more a question of damage control and managing negative social buzz than of actually helping customers with their problems. Read the rest at eMarketer.
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