Customer service delays cost Singapore $1.24b in wages

An average Singaporean spends 16.1 hours on hold for service complaints.

Businesses are taking longer to resolve customer-related issues, as evidenced by Singaporeans spending over 30 million hours on hold to address service complaints or issues last year. 

On average, this equated to roughly two full working days or 16.1 hours per individual, resulting in a substantial nationwide wage loss of $1.24b.

One in three Singaporeans feels they spent more time on hold in 2023 than in 2022, whilst one in two believe the time it takes to resolve an issue has increased.

ServiceNow warned that slow service solutions will escalate business operating costs, with employees dedicating an average of 4.7 working days to resolve each customer issue.

Being put on hold stems from various reasons, including business staff not having any power to make decisions or resolve their issue (52%), a lack of ownership and responsibility between departments (48%), inefficient internal communications (48%), understaffed or overwhelmed customer service departments (47%), and customer service staff not listening (40%).

Seven in 10 Singaporeans believe customer service is deteriorating due to companies cutting costs.

"Businesses that empower their employees and teams to collaborate quickly and transparently to resolve issues will succeed in 2024,” said Chia. Frustrating wait times, little resolution and abrupt service disruption are costing Singapore its patience along with National productivity, too,"  Wee Luen Chia, managing director at ServiceNow Asia, said.

Singaporeans said good customer service involves expedient issue resolution (67%) and prompt accessibility via phone, chat, or in-person (52%).

It also encompasses having an empathetic customer service agent (47%), the ability to monitor progress (46%), and comprehensive knowledge of service details by the customer service agent (42%).