Text, Call or Email: Customers' Preferred Contact Method Revealed

How do customers want to get in touch with your company? Are phone numbers obsolete? What about email, chat, text, and social?

There is a growing trend towards embracing alternative forms of communication, and as technology continues to evolve, businesses try to adopt every new channel.

This blog discusses whether that's a good idea and reveals if this practice matches customers' preferred mode of communication.

Most Preferred Method of Contact According to Stats

Recent data shows that customers choose their contact channels based on various factors. It can be based on their age, the reason for reaching out, and the urgency of their issue. It can also be a combination of these factors. Hence, most surveys show varying results for the same channel but still provide an interesting look into how customers choose to reach out.

Live calls remain dominant for many. Half of all customers prefer speaking with an agent over the phone because they feel it's the quickest way to reach customer care. This especially holds true among younger generations, where an astonishing 71% choose phone calls because they expect personalized interactions.

2025 Surveys from McKinsey and Gartner further note that a majority of younger customers also prefer self-service chatbots for quick resolutions. However, rigid scripts and frustrating loops can send them back to phone calls from bots.

Nextiva shares a similar surge in customers using self-service options like knowledge bases because it saves time. Their stat collection highlights that messaging apps and live chats are gaining ground. 61% prefer digital channels to communicate with brands and over 52% would remain loyal if a company only offers live chat.

The convenience of social media channels can't be ignored in 2026. Brightlocal shares that over 30% of customers use YouTube and Instagram to find business reviews. Most of them have also left feedback on company pages that greatly influence purchasing.

The case for self-service

Many customers prefer calling but that doesn't always mean they want to speak to a live agent. Empowering them with more contact options plays a major role in their satisfaction. Customers may still call your office but giving them quick answers through self-service makes a difference.

Over the phone, the standard for self-service has long been IVR. With the introduction of AI, intelligent virtual agents (IVAs) are now the best choice for empowering self-service in the most popular channel.

Don't forget other channels

Although the phone comes out on top, more than half of customers prefer to use other channels. The preferred contact method often depends on what the customer needs to accomplish. A customer may prefer text for two-factor authentication but prefer phone for complex issues. Below, we describe the differences between various channels and when you should consider using each.

Call or Email

Choosing between a call and an email depends on what needs to be accomplished. Some situations call for speed. Others work better in writing.

Use a phone call when you need to:

• Have a two-way conversation with several questions.
• Collect information quickly like an address or payment details.
• Build rapport during a sales or onboarding conversation.
• Share sensitive or disappointing updates like delays or cancellations.

Use email when you need to:

• Send messages that aren’t urgent.
• Share long or detailed information like policies or agreements.
• Reach multiple people at once.
• Keep a written record for compliance or reference.

Call or Text

Messages are more convenient in most cases. They are quick to send and receive. But it depends on the situation.

Use texting when you need to:

• Answer a quick question about a product or service.
• Offer a confirmation or a shipping update.
• Notify customers of a sale or promotion.
• Send a reminder about an appointment.

Use a phone call when you need to:

• Resolve a complex customer issue.
• Collect voice-of-the-customer feedback through a survey.
• Follow up with a customer if texting doesn't solve the issue.

Text or Email

Many customers choose text over email for simple, time-sensitive needs. Texts are easy to send and easy to read. Customers don’t need to open an inbox or wait on hold. They also tend to expect a faster reply than they would from email.

Email still has a place. It works better when the message needs space or structure. Customers often choose email when they need to share details or keep a written record.

Use text when you need to:

• Answer a short question about a product or service.
• Send order or shipping confirmations.
• Share time-sensitive updates.
• Remind customers about appointments.

Use email when you need to:

• Send detailed product or service information.
• Collect feedback or longer responses.
• Share contracts or formal documents.
• Follow up on non-urgent requests.
  
  

Preferred Contact Method: It Depends

It all comes down to preferences. A customer may prefer a phone call for one issue but an email for another. This reinforces the fact that businesses must support multichannel communication.

Here are a few factors that usually shape that choice:

• A traditional phone call is still the choice of many when an issue needs immediate attention.
• Emails work for detailed requests like refunds or account changes. It gives customers time and space to add complex information.
• The customer's preference stands tall above all channels. Someone who prefers live calls will still call your office even if an email would be better.
• The company's internal resources impact contact channels. Phones are more expensive to sustain than text or email. IVAs reduce this pressure by handling routine requests.

Looking at these factors helps you choose the right contact option for each situation. Even when a phone call makes sense, how that call is handled still matters. A clear voice technology strategy helps ensure agent time goes toward issues that actually need human support.

Multichannel Approach: Let Customers Choose How They Reach You

The data makes it clear that your customers don't share a single preferred contact method. They'll choose the channel they feel is best for their situation. A multichannel communication strategy helps here by meeting customers where they are. Someone checking their order status might text. Someone with a complex billing question might call. Both get help.

Mosaicx supports this multichannel approach by routing customers through the channel they choose while keeping their conversations connected. We also let you manage all interactions from a single platform so your team stays aligned.

Engage is our conversational AI platform that handles all your routine customer interactions across voice, SMS, email, and web chat. It deploys intelligent virtual agents (IVAs) that understand and respond in natural language.

Our IVAs handle common tasks like shipping updates, appointment reminders, and basic troubleshooting. They also process payments and update customer records. If the issue needs a human, the IVA hands off the conversation with context so the customer doesn’t repeat themselves.

For businesses, this means 24/7 coverage without headcount.

Mosaicx also connects to your existing systems, pulling customer data to personalize every interaction. When someone calls about their account, the AI already knows their history. This context travels with the customer regardless of which channel they use.

Insights360 and Journey Insights are our analytics that pair with Engage. They show you which channels customers actually use, where they abandon interactions, and what questions the AI handles versus what needs human help. This data tells you where to invest and what to automate next.

Setting up multichannel support traditionally meant managing separate systems, training teams for each platform, and hoping customers got consistent answers. Schedule a demo today to see how Mosaicx does all that with a single AI-driven platform.