Customer satisfaction 'vital for firms'

Date: 30/09/2011

Whether they are a well-established brand with a good customer base and reliable contacts, or a fledgling enterprise just getting off the ground and attempting to generate as much interest as possible, companies will no doubt understand the importance of the consumer in their operations.

These individuals help to drive the company forward and some people may even say they are the most vital aspect of any firm. After all, what is the point in a business existing if there is no one to purchase its goods and services?

With this in mind, businesses looking to purchase revenue share numbers and establish a call centre will probably want to do all they can to keep their consumers happy and ensure they receive the kind of service they need.

In order to do this they could undertake a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (Swot) analysis. In an article for Call Centre Clinic, managing director of Europe, the Middle East and Africa and corporate officer at Verint David Parcell described these as the "cornerstone" of most marketing strategies.

However, he claimed many people are no longer as trusting of big-name brands and believes this is because companies may not be paying close enough attention to meeting their clients' needs when it comes to service and satisfaction.

"Do marketers look closely enough at the customer element of the Swot and if they were to ask customers to conduct a similar analysis, would their results match what their internal experts concluded?," Mr Parcell questioned.

The expert continued: "One of the biggest challenges is understanding what your customers actually think of your brand, service and your products - essential input required for Swot analysis."

Recent research commissioned by mobile network giffgaff found consumers, many of whom could be calling non-geographic numbers, start to get stressed if they are left waiting for more than five minutes and 58 seconds.

Nearly 70 per cent said their opinion of an enterprise had been "permanently damaged" by having to sit on the end of the line for such a long time, while 67 per cent claimed to feel annoyed and 19 per cent revealed they got angry.

Companies may think it is useful to play some music down the line to keep those who are waiting entertained, but in actual fact 64 per cent of respondents to the survey said this only irritates them further.

Stress expert Roger Henderson described time as a "valuable commodity" in an age when people are leading increasingly busy lives. This means they hate to be kept waiting and a new phenomenon called 'speed greed' has emerged, which is when individuals are unwilling to wait in queues.

"It is part of human nature to rarely be satisfied with what we have in life. But our expectations are now such that if we do not get the service we expect very quickly, our stress levels increase quickly and significantly," he stated.

Call management solutions could therefore be very useful purchases for enterprises that are keen to keep their customers happy and avoid long waits on the end of their phone lines.

With call statistics services, businesses can monitor when the busiest times of their day occur and assign more staff members to the phones as a result, which could make sure consumers are not left waiting.

These solutions can be complemented by call divert tools, which redirect or re-route enquires to designated numbers to ensure people are always dealt with by the expert in the best position to help with their query.