A CX Standard that Could Change Everything: Spain's Customer Service Redemption

We’ve all heard the adage, “The customer is always right.” What you may not have heard is, “The customer needs to be attended to within 180 seconds” or “The customer must always have an option to interact with a real person instead of an automated system.” These phrases, however, have been proposed as the new standard in Spain.

Customer complaints regarding long wait times and unsatisfactory service in the European country have allegedly reached a tipping point. Spain’s left-wing coalition government presented a Customer Service bill on Tuesday, May 31st, requiring all companies with more than 250 workers or $53 million in revenue a year to provide live customer support during business hours, limit the wait time to three minutes or less and resolve issues within 15 days.

Considering the love affair between business professionals and artificial intelligence (AI), the lack of bills like this around the world, and the chance it does not become a law, this news may feel inconsequential. However, it brings to light the universal disappointment customers have with automated systems and their unfailing faith in the call agent.

Let’s break down this proposed bill and look at how its pros and cons could apply to your business.

1. A free, inclusive, and accommodating customer service representative must be available to speak when requested by the customer.

PRO: The new legislation ensures every customer, irrespective of their physical abilities, is able to report problems and find solutions. For the deaf, this means providing online, real-time communication. For the blind, there will be representatives available over the phone. And for the elderly, there would be additional, non-technical avenues for communication.

CON: From a moral perspective, it is shocking that these accommodations are so lacking a law needs to be put in place to enforce them. However, simply put, not all companies are targeting the same audiences and, therefore, do not expect to accommodate people of every age and background, and communication preference. For example, consider Lemonade Insurance, a digitally first, AI- driven insurance company, targeting a younger group of consumers than a legacy company like Northwestern Mutual. Does it make sense to require that they ignore their differences and adhere to the exact same customer support protocol?

Furthermore, by treating access live agents as a right rather than an option, the policy may also undermine the trend toward digital transformation and self-service. The law encourages customers and companies to fall back on old habits, removing any motivation to pivot away from live agent reliance.

2. Companies are obliged to answer calls within three minutes and resolve issues within 15 days.

PRO: Not only is hold music notoriously bad, but very few people have hours they can spend on the phone trying to resolve a simple issue like a forgotten password. By ensuring the call is answered in three minutes and the issue is solved after about two weeks, customers can call with confidence that an effective solution will be found efficiently. With “long hold times” currently ranking as the most common CX pain point, efforts to reduce waiting quite simply make sense, with or without formal legislation.

CON: Sometimes, it happens: there are not enough resources to meet customer demand. If this occurs, companies can be fined anywhere between $160 and $106,000. This would make the business even more strapped for cash, creating an even more difficult situation with less to invest in customer service.

More importantly, it is worth considering the extensive gap between the three-minute answer rate and the fifteen-day resolution rate. This policy risks deploying a mass of poorly trained agents who can quickly answer calls but are deprived of the power to act on solutions.

Rather than focusing on a punishment, consider compensating the customer in these circumstances. If they have a wait time longer than a few minutes, provide a discounted service or complimentary compensation. This puts no extra burden on the customer service team and creates more camaraderie between the consumer and the business.

3. Providers of basic services, such as utilities, phone, and Internet, will have to offer customer service 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

PRO: Customers should be able to get support for basic services at any time of the day or night. Emergencies do not happen at convenient times: electricity goes out during heat waves, and heaters break on Christmas Eve. For the safety and comfort of clients, companies must be available during these difficult moments.

CON: For small or start-up companies in the increasingly competitive utilities space this could prove to be too much of a financial burden. Employing call agents 24 hours a day, 365 days a year entails dedicating a large percentage of resources to the customer service teams. The law may squeeze out newer, Internet-age startups that offer exciting products but do not yet have the organizational framework (or consumer desire) to launch a full-scale, full-time contact center.

Additionally, this rule in conjunction with the three-minute pickup time could create complete chaos. If an agent has to rush a call with someone dealing with a power outage in order to meet the three-minute deadline for someone with a minor billing issue, the experience stops being customer-centric.

4. Customer service advisors will not be permitted to up-sell, cross-sell, or sell new products to complaining customers.

PRO: While some call agents may be trained salespeople, many are not. By removing upselling and cross-selling as an option, customers will be saved from listening to a pushy agent give a sales-y pitch for an irrelevant product. Additionally, this rule does not apply if the customer needs to purchase a solution to resolve the issue.

CON: When listening to a customer complaint, representatives will no longer be incentivized to find creative solutions to other long-term issues the client is having. Not only does this make for a less engaging phone conversation, but for a call agent lacking the impetus to help the client.

Customers in 2022 are far from obsessed with speaking on the phone. Unfortunately, current options for automated service leave something to be desired. This means two things: First, businesses would be wise to not eliminate live customer support just yet. Second, companies will benefit from prioritizing reliable AI-driven systems that win back customer trust and alleviate stress from their live customer agents. Only then can we find a balance between speaking on the phone and sending a text to solve an issue. Only then will we be empowering customers to service themselves rather than deflecting their calls.