Outstanding customer service has a direct impact upon improved sales and customer retention, as well as brand perceptions and trust. These are the findings of a major new call centre industry benchmarking report, commissioned by the UK’s Top 50 Call Centres for Customer Service, to find out how their customers and the general public think call centres are performing.
The study, which ranks call centres according to their customer service performance, found that the top ten ranking call centres achieved more than double the level of customer satisfaction compared to the bottom ten. Half of customers of the top ten call centres were ‘extremely satisfied’ compared to just 20% in the bottom 10, against an overall average of 33% amongst all of the Top 50 call centres.
The study proves conclusively that satisfied customers have a direct impact on the bottom line: customers of the top ten call centres were more than twice as likely to make a repeat purchase than those in the bottom ten; 38% of callers to the top ten call centres were extremely likely to use the organisation again, as compared to just 17% amongst those in the bottom ten.
In addition, 39% of callers to the top ten call centres were ‘extremely likely to recommend’ the organisation, as against 15% for the bottom ten. The top ten performing call centres are also almost twice as likely to enhance perception and trust, with 56% saying the call enhanced their trust of the brand, compared to just 32% for the bottom 10. Furthermore, 66% of callers to the top ten said that brand perceptions were enhanced, compared to 37% amongst the lowest ranked call centres.
In the 2010 Top 50 Call Centres for Customer Service Benchmarking study Laithwaites, the largest direct seller of wine in the UK has achieved 4 place with a score of 91.32% against an overall Top 50 average of 86%. Simon McMurtie, CEO of Laithwaites comments “Whenever we survey customers as to why they continue to buy their wine from us, their answer is always the same: ‘because your people are so nice on the phone’. We push them about the wines and about other aspects of our service, all of which they rate relatively highly, but our customer service always ranks highest. ”
McMurtie continues “Half of our revenues in the UK come from customers who have been with us for more than five years. That’s proof that they like our service. Investing in our service to customers gives us a fantastic return on investment. People want to talk to real people: that’s at the heart of our winning formula!”
The study was conducted by independent Market Research Company GfK Mystery Shopping and represents the largest ever mystery shopper exercise in the call centre industry. Over 18,500 mystery shopping enquiries were made to over fifty
call centres participating in the Top 50 Call Centres for Customer Service Programme. Calls were scored according to five customer service categories, timeliness, ease of use, reliable, knowledgeable staff and personalized service.
Simon Thorpe, Programme Director at Top 50 Call Centres for Customer Service commented:
“These findings show that good service is not good enough to win the hearts and minds of today’s consumers. Those organisations that invest in delivering outstanding performance are going to generate more sales, boast higher levels of customer retention and experience greater brand loyalty than their competitors.
“Typically, an organisation may lose as many as half of their customers over a five year period. Given that it costs at least five times more to attract a new customer than to keep a current one, we now have conclusive evidence that it pays to invest in customer service. Businesses who boost customer retention by as little as 5% can see increases in profits ranging from 5 - 95%”
The study found that while an impressive 97% of callers felt that their enquiry was completely resolved, up from 94% in 2009, this alone is not enough to reap the financial rewards that come with delighted customers. To achieve an outstanding customer service score, customer service representatives need to not only resolve the caller’s enquiry within a reasonable length of time by being efficient, but also be understanding and caring, use appropriate conversation and take ownership of the enquiry.
Thorpe continues “We hope that these results demonstrating the financial benefits that can be reaped as a direct result of great customer service will inspire other call centres to achieve the standards set by the very best of our Top 50 members. As always we are grateful to Genesys, Jabra and Noble Systems for their support of the programme and their invaluable contributions to the industry.”
The study, which ranks call centres according to their customer service performance, found that the top ten ranking call centres achieved more than double the level of customer satisfaction compared to the bottom ten. Half of customers of the top ten call centres were ‘extremely satisfied’ compared to just 20% in the bottom 10, against an overall average of 33% amongst all of the Top 50 call centres.
The study proves conclusively that satisfied customers have a direct impact on the bottom line: customers of the top ten call centres were more than twice as likely to make a repeat purchase than those in the bottom ten; 38% of callers to the top ten call centres were extremely likely to use the organisation again, as compared to just 17% amongst those in the bottom ten.
In addition, 39% of callers to the top ten call centres were ‘extremely likely to recommend’ the organisation, as against 15% for the bottom ten. The top ten performing call centres are also almost twice as likely to enhance perception and trust, with 56% saying the call enhanced their trust of the brand, compared to just 32% for the bottom 10. Furthermore, 66% of callers to the top ten said that brand perceptions were enhanced, compared to 37% amongst the lowest ranked call centres.
In the 2010 Top 50 Call Centres for Customer Service Benchmarking study Laithwaites, the largest direct seller of wine in the UK has achieved 4 place with a score of 91.32% against an overall Top 50 average of 86%. Simon McMurtie, CEO of Laithwaites comments “Whenever we survey customers as to why they continue to buy their wine from us, their answer is always the same: ‘because your people are so nice on the phone’. We push them about the wines and about other aspects of our service, all of which they rate relatively highly, but our customer service always ranks highest. ”
McMurtie continues “Half of our revenues in the UK come from customers who have been with us for more than five years. That’s proof that they like our service. Investing in our service to customers gives us a fantastic return on investment. People want to talk to real people: that’s at the heart of our winning formula!”
The study was conducted by independent Market Research Company GfK Mystery Shopping and represents the largest ever mystery shopper exercise in the call centre industry. Over 18,500 mystery shopping enquiries were made to over fifty
call centres participating in the Top 50 Call Centres for Customer Service Programme. Calls were scored according to five customer service categories, timeliness, ease of use, reliable, knowledgeable staff and personalized service.
Simon Thorpe, Programme Director at Top 50 Call Centres for Customer Service commented:
“These findings show that good service is not good enough to win the hearts and minds of today’s consumers. Those organisations that invest in delivering outstanding performance are going to generate more sales, boast higher levels of customer retention and experience greater brand loyalty than their competitors.
“Typically, an organisation may lose as many as half of their customers over a five year period. Given that it costs at least five times more to attract a new customer than to keep a current one, we now have conclusive evidence that it pays to invest in customer service. Businesses who boost customer retention by as little as 5% can see increases in profits ranging from 5 - 95%”
The study found that while an impressive 97% of callers felt that their enquiry was completely resolved, up from 94% in 2009, this alone is not enough to reap the financial rewards that come with delighted customers. To achieve an outstanding customer service score, customer service representatives need to not only resolve the caller’s enquiry within a reasonable length of time by being efficient, but also be understanding and caring, use appropriate conversation and take ownership of the enquiry.
Thorpe continues “We hope that these results demonstrating the financial benefits that can be reaped as a direct result of great customer service will inspire other call centres to achieve the standards set by the very best of our Top 50 members. As always we are grateful to Genesys, Jabra and Noble Systems for their support of the programme and their invaluable contributions to the industry.”
No comments:
Post a Comment