Customer support teams are closing more tickets than ever before. AI Agents and automation can handle higher volumes. Resolution times have dropped. Call center support appears to be working.
But customers are telling a different story.
In a recent survey of 1,000 U.S. consumers, our team at Capacity found a growing gap between how success is measured and how support actually feels to the customer. Issues may be marked resolved, but many customers leave unsure if the problem is truly behind them.
That disconnect is why we created The Closure Index. In this report, we examine why customer support interactions leave some customers feeling unresolved, even after tickets close.
Measuring What the Metrics Miss
So how do we measure closure? By asking customers directly.
The Closure Index is a survey-based benchmark designed to complement traditional call center metrics by measuring emotional closure at the end of a support interaction. Instead of focusing on resolution time or ticket status, it captures whether customers feel confident their issue is resolved and trust the problem won’t return.
Based on survey responses, the overall Closure Index score came in at 79. This may suggest customers feel mostly or fully resolved when they walk away. But it also signals meaningful room for improvement for call centers.
How Lingering Concerns Undermine Trust
Our findings showed that only 42% of customers walk away from support interactions feeling their issue is truly resolved. The remaining majority describes some level of unfinished business:
- 37% say their issue was mostly resolved but had lingering concerns
- 13% say it was only partially resolved
- 6% say it was not resolved at all
Lingering concerns come with consequences. Just one unresolved issue is enough for 33% of customers to stop using a brand altogether. Without emotional closure, confidence erodes and churn increases. That erosion shows up clearly in how customers feel at the end of an interaction.
For most customers, support interactions end in relief, not confidence. One in three (33%) respondents feel relieved after an issue is addressed, and only 17% report feeling confident afterward. Support teams are solving problems without delivering reassurance that issues won’t return.
How Support Channels Shape Closure
The Closure Index report also reveals that emotional closure varies significantly by support channel.
In-person and phone interactions remain the strongest performers in customer confidence, with 75% of customers reporting true closure after these live conversations. Traditional AI chat, by contrast, often struggles to deliver reassurance, with 48% rating these interactions poorly.
This can sound like customers are rejecting chat AI when really, customers don’t like feeling stuck inside an interaction that can’t resolve the issue and offers no clear path forward.
What the data suggests is that customers respond to the pace and clarity of voice-based support. The back-and-forth nature of a phone conversation creates a sense of momentum and decisiveness, whether the voice on the line belongs to a human or a sophisticated AI voice agent. The frustration is not with automation itself, but with static interactions that stall.
Customers want to feel the issue is actively moving toward resolution. To close this gap, support experiences must move beyond simple FAQ bots. When digital channels are designed with the same decisive logic, pacing, and directional clarity found in voice support, they can deliver the confidence and reassurance customers associate with a live conversation.
What Actually Creates Closure
Customers define closure less by where they get help and more by how the interaction unfolds. Our survey reveals that they’re primarily looking for three things:
- Clear communication: More than half of customers (52%) say clarity is the most important factor in achieving closure. Customers want to understand what happened, what was fixed and what to expect next.
- Speed to resolution: 43% say fast resolution helps them feel closure, particularly for routine or time-sensitive issues.
- Smooth escalation: 85% say the ability to move seamlessly from AI to a human when needed is important.
Together, these factors point to a single requirement: Support must be able to shift in real time as customer needs change.
How AI and Humans Work Together to Create Closure
Some might suggest AI is the problem. But the real issue isn’t AI itself. It’s what happens when AI can’t pass the conversation to a human at the right moment.
AI Agents are ideal for delivering speedy Tier 1 support, handling common questions and reducing wait times. This efficiency creates the foundation of a good experience. But when things grow complex or uncertainty remains, customers need clear communication and smooth escalation to feel closure.
This is where AI-powered solutions like Agent Assist change customer experiences and make that transition possible. When escalation is necessary, Agent Assist ensures human agents can step in informed and prepared, building a seamless bridge to a human the moment it’s required.
AI handles predictable work so human support can focus on delivering reassurance and building trust. When AI and human support work together this way, closure becomes something teams can design for.
Designing Support for Closure at Scale
By benchmarking emotional closure, The Closure Index offers a clearer view of where support experiences fall short and where AI and human orchestration deliver the strongest advantage. Closure isn’t a feeling brands have to guess at anymore. With Capacity, it’s measurable and achievable.
Want to see how Capacity helps teams move from resolution to reassurance? Get in touch to explore how our platform helps customers walk away knowing their issue is truly behind them.