The Freshservice IT Service Management Benchmark Report 2024, published by leading AI-boosted business software provider Freshworks, has showcased the impact of generative AI and industry trends on reshaping customer satisfaction and business performance standards in the UK. The data, which was obtained from over 9,400 organisations in 100+ countries, evaluates seven commonly used KPIs to assess the efficiency and effectiveness of organisational service delivery, thus accentuating AI's influence on innovation and success.
Key insights derived from the report reveal that UK businesses deliver rapid first responses to end users, with an average time just shy of ten hours (9.98), the fastest amongst all European countries surveyed. The country ranks within the top five worldwide for customer satisfaction too, earning a score of 97.2%. In comparison, France scored 95.6%, the Netherlands 95.9%, and Germany was slightly ahead with 97.3%.
UK customers also enjoy the fastest resolution times in Europe, with issues typically resolved within 20.72 hours—more than nine hours quicker than Italy, Europe's slowest responder at 29.43 hours. While France held the top global spot for the best resolution Service Level Agreement (SLA) at 99.2%, the UK lagged, being the lowest performer in Europe with a score of 95.9%.
Global rankings saw the UK secure the fifth position for both customer satisfaction scores and average first response times. Canada topped the satisfaction charts with 99.0%, and India was the quickest to get back to customers, averaging at 7.95 hours. Despite taking a bit more time to assign tickets—22.73 hours—European businesses still adhere to their SLAs admirably, surpassing industry benchmarks with 96.9% for resolution SLA compliance and 96.7% for first response SLAs.
Chat and collaboration channels like Microsoft Teams and Slack are contributing to rapid solutions with minimal wait times. The UK's average in resolution time was 95.9%, slightly above the Freshservice benchmark of 95.7%. Smart assistance is also helping to streamline service delivery by automating repetitive tasks and ensuring consistency across teams. Under the facilitation of generative AI-powered assistance, UK customer service representatives are experiencing a reduced average resolution time of 20.72 hours, an improvement from the benchmark set at 24.15 hours.
While the UK holds a robust performance across most KPIs compared to the overall benchmark, there's potential for improvement in assignment times, which could further escalate the nation's position amongst the top performers. Gen AI is significantly altering how companies operate, especially in situations where precision is vital. By endorsing genuine AI-driven solutions and tools, Chief Information Officers (CIOs) can boost business operations and drive measurable outcomes.
