We’ve all uttered the words “talk to a representative” after reaching the point of exasperation with the robotic voice on the other end of a customer service line. In recent years, the deterioration of customer service has become increasingly evident, manifesting in heated exchanges, employee burnout, and a general sense of frustration on both sides. As more layers of tech have been added between consumers and people they need help from, we’ve become less patient and more mean. 

What's driving this troubling trend? The answer lies in the interplay between individual and institutional factors, each reinforcing the other in a cycle that has eroded the quality of service interactions. Between the rise of customer service tools like AI chatbots and our isolation from each other during the pandemic, consumers have forgotten to mind their manners.

At the individual level, the transition to remote work and increased reliance on digital communication during the pandemic reduced face-to-face interactions, diminishing our capacity for understanding and patience with others. As one customer service representative put it, "It's like people forget there's a human on the other end of the line." And that’s not just anecdotal. Research by Harvard Business Review found that 76% of customer service employees on the frontlines experienced increased hostility from customers during the early stages of the pandemic, with only 39% of Americans polled believing that the general tone in America was civil. 

At the institutional level, businesses - especially young brands - are under immense pressure to scale quickly and efficiently. So the allure of automated customer service solutions is hard to resist. The global chatbot market is expected to be worth $455 million by the end of 2027, according to Statista. And while chatbots can save on overhead, the push to automate comes at another price. Fifty-nine percent of consumers feel companies have lost touch with the human element of customer experience, and 74% of Americans want more human interaction, not less.

The tension between operational streamlining and customer satisfaction has created a forcing function in our apparent descent to meanness. We've entered a paradoxical era where the more businesses strive for efficiency to better serve customers and reduce costs, the more dissatisfied customers become with their interactions. Half of consumers said they often feel frustrated by their interactions with chatbots and nearly 40% of these interactions were said to be negative, per an article in Forbes. 

For brands looking to improve their customer service and overall consumer experience, the challenge lies in developing solutions that bridge the gap between efficiency and empathy. That can mean ignoring efficiency entirely by doing things that don’t scale (like handwritten notes) as long as possible. It can also look like putting the human experience back into customer service (as we’ve previously written about in the interplay between humans and AI). 

Some AI companies are working on detecting and defusing tension in real-time, platforms like Reddit are incentivizing positive interactions and engagement through their Karma point system to keep the community civil, and then there are new businesses like Siena AI that are developing AI personas with customizable levels of professionalism, empathy, and brand voice to optimally handle various customer service requests.

While navigating this complex landscape, businesses must recognize that the true cost of good customer service extends beyond the balance sheet. While automated solutions offer short-term gains, the long-term value of positive brand experiences cannot be underestimated. The key lies in striking a delicate balance: leveraging technology to enhance, not replace, human interactions between customers and businesses; brands and customers leaning further into their empathy; and all parties recognizing that in the age of social media, every A+ customer interaction is a potential marketing moment.

We may find that the cure for the "mean consumer" lies not only in more thoughtful service interactions, but also in reimagining the very nature of the business-customer relationship for the digital age.