A new study by  eGain confirms what many communications provider subscribers have long groaned about: Cable, Internet, phone and wireless carrier Web- and e-mail-delivered customer service in North America is abysmal, or at best mediocre.

 

It could be worse, and it is for customers who live in the United Kingdom. The report showed that these firms’ British counterparts experienced even poorer service via e-mail and Web channels than those in the United States and Canada.

 

The research, conducted with a “mystery shopping” approach to evaluate customer service performance, found in North America: 20 percent of the companies simply ignored customer e-mails; 45 percent of the companies failed to respond within 24 hours, a prevalent turnaround expectation for e-mail customer service today; and 45 percent of the responses were ‘poor’ or ‘below average’ in quality.

 

While 55 percent scored ‘above average’ or ‘exceptional’ in Web self-service but 45 percent received ‘poor’ or ‘below average’, showing a dichotomy among the best and worst performers.

 

In comparing North America with the UK the report revealed: the UK trailed North America significantly in both e-mail customer service and Web self-service; 73 percent of the UK sample simply ignored customer e-mails; only 19 percent of UK companies received an ‘above average’ or ‘exceptional’ rating in e-mail quality; only 15 percent of British firms responded to e-mails within 24 hours; and just 42 percent of the UK firms scored ‘above average’ or ‘exceptional’ in Web self-service.

 

Posing as prospective buyers of high-value products and services, eGain researchers contacted leading communications providers through e-mail, showing an obvious intent to buy, and also evaluated the self-service capabilities offered by these businesses. The objectives were to assess the responsiveness and quality of e-mail customer service, the range of Web self-service options offered, and the ability to easily escalate to agent-assisted service. The North America research also included other aspects of customer service including interaction channels offered, and multichannel and multi-agent service consistency.

 

The irony is that more communications providers’ subscribers are using and preferring text-based communications, especially SMS as opposed to voice and are utilizing 3G and soon 4G-enabled smartphones to surf the Web including using the sites’ customer service features. This research indicates that e-mail and Web customer service need improvements to meet customers’ service needs and channel preferences.

 

“Because of high subscriber churn and relentless product and service commoditization in the communications sector, e-mail customer service and Web self-service are key requirements to providing cost-effective customer service in today’s volatile economic climate,” says Ashu Roy, Chairman and CEO of eGain. “It is crucial that service providers invest in robust customer service management solutions that will not only help cut costs but also improve online customer service and unify the customer service experience across all contact center channels.”