Our Insights
25th April 2007
Insight Now recently undertook a research study in partnership with QPC amongst attendees at the Global Contact Centre Forum in Cannes.
QPC Customer Satisfaction Research - Findings
Background
These are troubled times! On one hand the customer satisfaction business case is well proven - over a decade of ACSI (American Customer Satisfaction Index) data conclusively links increased satisfaction to both profitability and stock price. On the other hand organisations seem increasing unable to deliver what customers want - the third annual YouGov customer service survey has revealed more consumers than ever are complaining about companies offering a poor customer experience, with only 60 per cent of customers expecting their query or problem to be resolved to their satisfaction. Even worse, just 23 per cent of respondents felt companies actually delivered the desired satisfactory resolution.
So with customers becoming more aware and demanding and the delivery of improved customer satisfaction a high priority, Insight Now and QPC set out to determine how organisations were measuring customer satisfaction and whether they felt that they could use the information gained to drive sustained, focussed improvement. The research ran during April and was targeted at a senior Contact Centre Management - the results make interesting reading:
Customer Satisfaction measurement
- Around 69% of organisations are currently measuring customer satisfaction. Alarmingly however, over 30% have no measurement regime in place.
- Only 25% of satisfaction measurement happens either during the call (6%) or immediately afterwards (19%). A further 16% of customers are contacted within a day of the call. Put in context this means that only 28% of total callers have the chance to feedback on their experience whilst it is still fresh in their mind.
- Research agencies account for 44% of feedback. This is delivered up to 3 months after the interaction, when it is no longer fresh in the customer's memory. Insight Now data indicates that the longer the delay in delivering feedback the greater the chance that customer perceptions will be brand not transaction related. This means that maybe 40% of service related surveying is actually gathering feedback on your logo, adverts and branch colour scheme - clearly not helpful from a service improvement perspective.
Advisor Satisfaction measurement
- Less that half - just 48% - of participants could be certain that they measure agent satisfaction. An interesting figure in light of the c20% attrition the industry experiences.
- In terms of utilising agents as catalysts of change, some 38% of respondents have some a closed loop system in place to identify areas for improvement. A further 31% have some form of suggestion scheme for capturing ideas.
- It might be cynical to suggest that of the 69% of agents contributing to identifying and driving change in their businesses, a substantial number are never asked to score their own satisfaction….surely an area for immediate improvement!
Accuracy vs Action
- Here the results become really quite interesting. 65% of participants believe "their current approach to measuring customer satisfaction provides an accurate assessment of how customers feel about their contact experience". 9% agree completely and a further 56% in part.
- However, in terms of driving action only 9% can definitely relate feedback to root-cause, 45% can sometimes and 30% rarely can…..which begs the question "why are we doing it then?"
Priority and satisfaction
- 69% or respondents see customer satisfaction measurement as a "top 3 or higher" issue, with 22% rating it first, 34% as top three and an additional 13% as top five.
- Only 12% are fully satisfied with their current approach, with a further 42% believing it partially sufficient.
- That said, 76% of participants are planning to change their approach - just 8% have defined this change however with 68% currently investigating.
What does good feel like?
To add some flavour to how satisfaction measurement is likely to change, respondents were asked to identify their most important aspects of customer satisfaction. The most popular responses were:
"High First Contact Resolution"
"The ability to convert feedback into action"
"Speed of feedback so that we can change things and correct errors quickly"
"Empowered staff who desire to make our customers day"
"Delivering to the customers objectives not ours"
These typical comments would seem to suggest three "critical success factors" have emerged:
- Speed of feedback - how quickly the adviser receives specific customer feedback
- Engaging the agent - in wanting to control and drive quality
- Closing the loop - identifying shortfalls in delivery and putting in place measurable actions to improve
Indeed these factors are supported by additional Insight Now research into what drives customer and employee engagement.
| Customer needs | Employee needs |
| Primary - call resolved with certainty Meeting this basic need is a must - first call resolution and repeat calls are direct measures. Secondary - improving the experience Clear contact strategy that gets the customer to the advisor with the skills to deal with the call. Sufficient call handling capacity, avaoidance of lengthy queries. Good call control (welcome, listen, tell, do, verbal, handshake). Controlled and limited hand-offs, ownership of follow-up. |
Primary - add value To provide a high level of customer satisfaction. To answer a high percentage of calls without hand-offs or referral. To be part of a joined-up and effective "customer service chain" being part of an aligned team. |
Summary
This research would seem to be a call to action…..
- Only 28% of callers are able to provide feedback whilst it is fresh in their mind
- 48% of agents are asked about their experience despite 69% being expected to identify service issues.
- Just 9% of organisations believe in the accuracy of feedback and only 9% again can link it to root cause, suggesting that less than 1% have accurate, actionable feedback!
- However dissatisfaction means that 76% are planning to do something different. The killer question we would suggest is what!
For more information please contact: QPC contact
About Insight Now
Insight Now provides real time feedback from the customer, advisor and management perspective using IVR, Web and Mobile phone based surveys. Results are displayed in real time through a suite of business dashboards that empower advisors to improve the customer experience.