BETA RESEARCH CORPORATION
SYOSSET, NEW YORK
Contact:
Gail Disimile, Executive Vice President Sales
Phone: (516) 935-3800, ext. 222
Fax: (516) 935-4092
E-mail: gail@nybeta.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 14, 2007
CONSUMERS WHO HAVE "POSITIVE" CALL-CENTER EXPERIENCES ARE MORE LIKELY TO SAY THAT THEY ARE SATISFIED WITH THAT COMPANY'S PRODUCTS AND/OR SERVICES OVERALL AND ARE MORE LIKELY TO PURCHASE FROM THAT COMPANY AGAIN IN THE FUTURE.
Syosset, NY -- March 14, 2007: Beta Research announces the results from their latest CMARTM Study - Customer Satisfaction as it relates to the call-center experience.
Methodology
To meet research objectives, an Internet methodology was utilized. Survey participants' e-mail addresses were provided via the Beta Research Consumer Panel – a nationally representative sample of U.S. households. More than 3,000 panelists, 18+ who contacted a company (of any type) by telephone within the previous year participated in this research.
Areas of Interest
- Types of companies contacted past 12 months via the telephone
- Assessment of call-center experience – number of times phone rang before answered by live person vs. answering machine, review of automated menu of choices, length of time put on hold (if at all), satisfaction with service rep and difficulty in understanding service rep/language or accent issues
- Satisfaction with company – likelihood to purchase from in the future and how service experience affected perception of company
- General demographics – household composition, union membership and willingness to pay more for a product made in the US
Background
Customer satisfaction is a worldwide growing concern among business organizations. Consumers are demanding that products meet or exceed expectations while being offered at the lowest possible prices that are consistent with excellent quality. While most companies will experience customer attrition for reasons that they cannot control, there is one area directly correlated to customer satisfaction that they can control – that is, the call-center experience.
Findings
The Beta Research Customer Satisfaction Study indicates that those customers who have "positive" call-center experiences are more likely to say that they are satisfied with that company's products and services and/or are more likely to purchase from that company again in the future. In fact, most consumers are rather adamant regarding how and who should handle their product or service inquires.
- Telephone inquiries should be answered within a relatively short period of time – 6 or more rings before being connected is unacceptable.
- Most prefer to speak to an actual person rather than an automated system – respondents who were initially connected to a "live" operator were significantly more likely to be satisfied with the service experience than those connected to an automated menu (78% vs. 49%).
- Being put on hold for 3 or more minutes can have a negative impact on a company's image – 43% of those who were put on hold for more than 3 minutes said they now had a lower opinion of the company that they called.
- And, eight in ten (80%) agree that the quality of the service received from a customer service representative is a good indication of the quality of that company's products or service.
Furthermore, respondents who found customer service representatives to be rude, difficult to understand, or uninformed were even more likely to be dissatisfied with the company that they called as a whole as well as to indicate that they would not consider that company's products or services in the future – concluding that negative customer service experiences have the potential of jeopardizing long-term customer relationships.
Contact
To learn more about Beta's Customer Satisfaction Study please contact: Gail C. Disimile, Executive Vice President Sales, Beta Research Corporation, 6400 Jericho Turnpike, Suite 101, Syosset, NY 11791-9018, 516-935-3800 or e-mail Gail at gail@nybeta.com. |
