Amdocs Survey Reveals that Consumers and Businesses Value Customer Experience Over Cost of Services in Dealing with Telecommunications Companies
ST. LOUIS, MO and BARCELONA, SPAIN - February 13, 2006 - Amdocs (NYSE: DOX), the leading provider of software and services to enable integrated customer management and the intentional customer experience™, today released a global Customer Experience Survey, which revealed that both consumers and businesses say that they are more likely to stick with a telecom provider based on the quality of the customer experience than on the cost of its service. The survey results highlight the frustration many consumers feel about the customer service they receive, particularly when trying to reach a support person.
The survey queried more than 1,000 consumers and 400 businesses in the United States and United Kingdom about their interactions with their telecom providers. Consumers have more complaints than businesses about how their telecom companies treat them. The cost of services ranked lower on the list of priorities for both business and consumer respondents.
“The Amdocs Customer Experience Survey proves that keeping customers happy isn’t just about reducing prices,” said Michael Matthews, chief marketing officer of Amdocs. “By adopting an integrated customer management strategy, providers can get a full picture of their customer interactions. From there, they can identify customer needs and provide a differentiated and intentional customer experience. That’s the right strategy regardless of whether the customers are consumers or large corporations.”
Consumers Want Control and Customer Service
Consumers consistently register their frustration at not being able to get a customer service person on the phone quickly when they have a problem or a question. To give a sense of consumer exasperation, 57 percent of consumer respondents in the U.S. and U.K. said they would even pay an extra five dollars a month if it meant that they would not be put on hold and not have to talk to multiple service representatives when they contact the call center.
Self service also continues to grow in importance. More than three out of four consumer respondents asked for online access to their account to handle administrative tasks such as reviewing and paying bills.
I Want My New Services
Businesses and consumers both want their telecom providers to branch into whole new sets of services. More than half of businesses – 56% — said they wanted their telecom provider to offer systems integration and implementation services. However, they also want those new services to be cost-effective. When asked what drives their decision to buy new services, the majority (58 percent) of businesses surveyed in the U.S. and the U.K. said that cost was the most important factor.
“Companies want their communications service provider to help them run their businesses and maintain their infrastructures,” said Matthews. “They won’t be misled by flashy and expensive offerings that don’t fit within their business model and budget.”
Consumers on the other hand want more digitally-based services. Among those surveyed, 30 percent of U.S. consumer respondents said they want their carrier to offer new, digitally-based services, such as ring-tones, music downloads, and video games. In the U.K., the wish list was different: text messaging and chat programs topped the list followed by video such as TV shows and music videos. Perhaps reflecting its novelty, the least requested new service was original cell phone TV programming such as mini sitcoms.
These services, made possible by IP networks, are shaping up to be a critical competitive element. Services are so important to consumers that 53 percent would consider switching to a new provider to get them, providing of course that they are considered to be attractively priced.
VoIP and Self-Service – Businesses Want More and Know They Have Options
Businesses are fully aware of their choices in selecting a provider. For example, more than half of businesses surveyed in the U.S. do not currently have an Internet telephony service (voice over Internet protocol or VoIP), but would consider sourcing it from a non-traditional provider like an Internet-based company.
Like consumers, businesses also want to increase their level of control. Only 45 percent of the businesses in the U.S. currently use self-service capabilities from their telecom provider, but 70 percent wish they had more self-service options.
Bright Spots in an Increasingly Competitive Space
As the telecom industry becomes more competitive, there is some good news for established telecom companies. Just about 50% of consumers in the U.S. said they would be happy to buy new services from their current provider. An even larger number – 64% — in the U.S. and the U.K. were not even aware that they could get phone service from new market entrants like cable companies and Internet phone providers. This may prove to be a window of opportunity for established telecom companies to solidify and grow share of wallet as they fend off new market entrants.
The Amdocs Customer Experience Survey was conducted by an independent third party survey company in the United States and United Kingdom.
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