It is no secret that, worldwide, interest in cryptocurrency is skyrocketing. Research from the University of Chicago research group NORC revealed that, within the past 12 months, 13% of Americans bought or traded cryptocurrency. In comparison, 24% of Americans invested in stocks over that same time period. Major companies are now accepting cryptocurrency as payment, and, in a “milestone for the cryptocurrency industry,” the first U.S. bitcoin futures exchange-traded fund made its debut in the stock market in October of 2021.
It is clear that the crypto craze is far from over. Yet how are the world’s leading cryptocurrency wallets, exchanges and platforms faring from a customer experience perspective? Are they going above and beyond to deliver cross-channel support, amid this time of digital transformation and consumer demand?
In our new Customer Service Benchmark Report – Cryptocurrency, we analyzed top 101 global cryptocurrency exchanges and platforms, with emphasis on support delivered via email (which we know is a preferred support channel). We also looked at one, three and five-star mobile app reviews for both praise and complaints regarding customer support. Here, we share some of our most intriguing findings from this CX benchmarking report.
Download your copy of our Customer Service Benchmark Report – Cryptocurrency to get the complete picture, with all of our findings!
The Top 10 Key Findings from Netomi’s Customer Service Report – Cryptocurrency
- Thorough responses are rare: More than half of crypto companies lack thoroughness in their responses, and 7.7% do not provide an answer to even one of their customer’s questions.
- Customer queries are often overlooked: Although 97% of crypto companies have readily accessible email addresses for support-related queries, customer emails are ignored nearly 1 in 3 times.
- There is little to no follow-up: 41.8% of companies send an automated email response acknowledging the receipt of an email, yet 22.4% fail to send a follow-up email, to ensure the full resolution of an issue. Meanwhile, 38.8% of companies do not use automated emails at all.
- Oftentimes, responses lack a personal touch: While 32.7% of companies fully personalize their responses, nearly half (46.1%) do not address the customer by name.
- Many companies are monitoring and tracking customer reviews, and respond in a timely fashion: 75% of companies respond within the first week, while 10.8% respond within 2-4 weeks and 1.2% respond after 4 weeks. 13% of companies, however, do not respond to reviews at all.
- Companies respond more often to negative reviews: Crypto companies are, on average, 2.04X more likely to respond to negative reviews about customer service, as opposed to positive reviews.
- For crypto companies, time is of the essence in this fast-moving industry: The average email response time for these companies is 9.5 hours, which is 3X faster than average response times that Netomi has measured across other industries, and highlighted in past Customer Service Benchmarking Reports, i.e., Travel & Hospitality Benchmark Report, eCommerce Benchmark Report and Gaming Benchmark Report.
- Response times vary, region-to-region: Companies based in North America and Latin America have the fastest average response time at 2.7 hours, which is 2.6X faster than those based in EMEA (Europe, the Middle East and Africa).
- Response times also vary, based on company size: In comparison to medium-size companies (between 251-500 employees) which have an average response time of nearly 25 hours, the crypto companies with the most employees have the shortest average response time, averaging 1.7 hours.
- The largest companies skim the surface, failing to get to the root of the customer’s issue: Looking at 25 of the largest crypto companies by employee size, 40% of them either do not reply to emails at all or only send an automated email, without providing a full resolution to the issue at hand. Meanwhile, 16% of companies provide no response to customer emails.
Why strong customer service is key for crypto companies
Cryptocurrencies are redefining the global financial system, and are revolutionizing age-old concepts of money management. Unlike the traditional stock market, which is generally limited to set business hours, crypto markets are open 24/7 – meaning that traders are able to buy and sell at any time of the day, or night.
To keep pace in this rapidly evolving landscape and meet heightened customer demand, cryptocurrencies and exchanges need to adopt a similar, always-on approach in their customer support strategies. What if, for instance, a customer is having trouble accessing their account at 2:00 AM, when a financial opportunity has presented itself? What if a website crash or other crisis occurs, and customers need assistance, ASAP?
Netomi’s findings from our Customer Service Benchmark Report – Cryptocurrency underscore the fact that these companies must prioritize responsiveness across channels, and reply to customers in a timely manner, in order to build and maintain user loyalty in the digital banking era. Crypto customers are tech-savvy and always looking toward the future, when it comes to banking and finance trends. It’s time to offer them personalized and convenient support across platforms, whenever and wherever they may be.
To learn more about how some of the world’s leading crypto companies deliver email support, download the full Customer Service Benchmark Report – Cryptocurrency!
References
- https://www.cnbc.com/2021/07/23/13percent-of-americans-traded-crypto-in-the-past-year-survey-finds.html
- https://www.euronews.com/next/2021/12/04/paying-with-cryptocurrencies-these-are-the-major-companies-that-accept-cryptos-as-payment
- https://www.cnbc.com/2021/10/18/first-bitcoin-futures-etf-starts-trading-tuesday-what-to-know-.html
- https://www.vox.com/recode/2021/10/20/22736639/bitcoin-etf-stock-exchange-proshares-wall-street
- https://www.businessinsider.com/day-trading-crypto