Contact Centre 'Empathy and Advocacy' Standards are Falling According to New European Consumer Research
2007 Aspect Contact Center Satisfaction Index™ Europe study reveals falling levels of customer satisfaction, with European consumers rating agents' Empathy and Advocacy skills 5 percent lower than in 2006
11 Oct 2007
STOCKLEY PARK, London, 11 October 2007 — Aspect Software, Inc., the world’s largest company solely focused on the contact center, and Leo J. Shapiro and Associates, a premier market research company, today announced the results of the 2007 Aspect Contact Center Satisfaction Index™ - Europe, the first and only published independent survey of consumer experience versus expectations of contact centre interactions in Europe. As the balance of power continues to shift from businesses to consumers, the Aspect Index - Europe study provides practical, objective insight into consumer attitudes and behaviours that organisations can use to close the gap between consumer expectations and experiences.
The 2007 Aspect Index – Europe surveyed more than 1,250 consumers in six European countries (the UK, the Netherlands, France, Germany, Italy and Spain).
The European study reveals that customer satisfaction with contact center-delivered service fell between 2006 and 2007. European consumers rated satisfaction with their last contact center interaction as an E grade (64 percent). This compares with 67 percent, a D grade in 2006.
Among the countries surveyed, British, Italian, French and Spanish consumers all awarded contact centers an overall satisfaction grade of E (scores fell between 61 and 62 percent). Dutch consumer ratings were slightly higher at 65 percent (D grade). While German consumers were the happiest in Europe, rating their last interaction 72 percent out of 100, a C grade on the Aspect Index - Europe.
European consumers were particularly critical of contact center Empathy and Advocacy* skills - rating their last interaction with a 65 percent score, 5 percent lower than in 2006. In three key Empathy and Advocacy areas highlighted previously as being important to European consumers - “Knowledgeable and Informed”, “Professional” and “Patient”, European consumers rated contact center performance 5 to 6 percent lower in 2007 than in 2006. In addition:
- 28 percent of consumers in Europe said that their last contact center interaction fell short of their expectations compared with 22 percent in 2006.
- Consumers in the Netherlands have the highest expectations of contact center-delivered service at 6.9 out of 9 in 2007, and French consumers the lowest at only 5.9 out of 9.
- On average, 2.7 interactions are required with a European contact center in order to resolve a consumer query. Additionally, European consumers wait an average of 4.5 minutes when trying to reach a person within the contact center.
- 44 percent of interactions with communications companies fell short of European consumer expectations compared to only 20 percent of retail company interactions and 21 percent of financial company interactions (35 percent, 17 percent and 16 percent respectively in 2006).
"Every interaction is an opportunity - an opportunity to delight or disappoint, to enchant or disillusion, to reinforce a customer relationship or to lose it” said Isabel Montesdeoca, senior director of marketing, Europe and Africa, for Aspect Software. “While pleasing everyone all of the time is a Herculean task, by focusing investment on 'listening to consumers' and ensuring that agents, processes and contact centre technologies are able to respond quickly and cost-effectively to consumers’ needs, Aspect Software believes that more and more contact centre interactions can become exceptional. Ultimately, the companies that are able to learn from exceptional experiences and apply those lessons to their operations will reap the rewards in terms of enhanced consumer satisfaction, increased business and potentially market leadership."
* The Aspect Index – Europe survey takes into consideration 25 attributes across three categories:
• Empathy and Advocacy - the human aspect of customer interactions, such as patience, knowledge, professionalism, and friendliness
• Efficiency - the overall quality and speed of the experience including being able to quickly speak with an agent, authority to resolve issues, and clear connection
• Automation - explores ease-of-use of technologies like automated menus, multiple contact choices, and access of contact information from website
Impact on Business
The 2007 Aspect Index – Europe study examined the impact of good and bad customer experiences on future business, finding that one third of European consumers who were ‘satisfied’ with their last interaction would conduct more business with that company; with 8 percent of these saying they will do much more business. Conversely, nearly half of consumers who were ‘unsatisfied’ claimed they will conduct less business; half of these saying they will do much less business.
Two-fifths of European consumers that were asked to repeat information after being transferred from an automated system to a live agent said they will conduct less business with a company; and, overall, 20 percent European consumers said they were “likely to switch companies based on their latest (actual) interaction”.
"The Aspect Index shows clearly how the quality of a customer experience can impact a company's top line" said Margaret Mueller, Sr. Research Analyst, Leo J. Shapiro & Associates. "The survey results show that customers can be won or lost over the course of a single interaction. We hope that by calling out the criteria or actions that appear to create a pleasant experience, we can help contact centres determine what specific actions to take to satisfy their customers and grow their business."
European Exceptional Experiences
The 2007 Aspect Index – Europe also measured some new data this year including identifying the criteria that distinguish an exceptional customer experience allowing contact centers to better understand what consumers are looking for in their interactions with companies. And, for companies that deliver an exceptional contact center experience to their consumers, the outlook is much brighter. European consumers stating they had an ‘exceptional experience’ gave a much higher 86 percent satisfaction rating, an ‘A’ grade on the Aspect Index, with 55 percent of these consumers stating they would do more business with the company they had the contact with.
55 percent of ‘exceptional experience’ consumers conducted their last interaction by phone. European consumers that had experienced an ‘exceptional experience’ on their last call:
• Required only 1.6 customer contacts to resolve their query (compared with 2.7 contacts for consumers reporting a ‘typical experience’), and
• Repeated information on only 33 percent of calls (compared with 55 percent of calls for consumers having ‘typical’ experiences)
“While the 2007 Aspect Index – Europe survey shows that European consumers are less satisfied with contact center delivered service than in 2006, the study also points the way forward for contact center operators. By resolving queries quicker, cutting queue wait times and removing the need for callers to repeat information, they can turn ‘typical’ experiences into ‘exceptional’ experiences, thereby raising satisfaction levels and boosting future sales” says Aspect Software’s Isabel Montesdeoca.
“’Empathy and Advocacy’, ‘Efficiency’ and ‘Automation’ are three key areas that contact center operators must address” she continues. “European consumers that reported an ‘exceptional experience’ on their last customer contact scored that experience with an 88 percent rating for Empathy and Advocacy, an 86 percent rating for Efficiency and an 82 percent rating for Automation.”
About the Aspect Contact Center Satisfaction Index™ Europe
In 2005, Aspect Software, Inc. established the Aspect Contact Center Satisfaction Index™ to provide a measure of consumer satisfaction of telephone and internet-based interactions with companies and their representatives.
The Aspect Index study covers a cross-section of age groups, incomes, professions and education levels. The independent survey conducted by Leo J. Shapiro & Associates LLC, adjusts over time to reflect changes and trends in contact center performance, relative use of various communications channels and the changes in the importance that consumers place on various components of service. It is a new measure of experience versus expectation related to contact center interactions.
The inaugural Aspect Index - Europe study was conducted in 2006, with the second study conducted in 2007. Each covered six countries – the UK, the Netherlands, France, Germany, Italy and Spain. The 2007 Aspect Index - Europe study measured many of the same attributes as in 2006, but also gathered some new data, including:
• The specific distinctions between exceptional contact center experiences and the typical customer experience
• Greater detail on how automated systems are affecting the overall customer experience
• Increased detail on how and when consumers are using contact channels
1,031 interviews were completed with consumers, producing a survey sample with an overall confidence level of +/- 3 percent. A more detailed qualitative study was also conducted with 257 consumers who stated they had an ‘exceptional’ experience.
The Aspect Index - Europe is the first and only published independent survey of consumer experience versus expectation of contact center interactions in Europe.
The Aspect Index - Europe uses the following grading method. A grades are 80 or more out of 100; B grades are 75 to 79; C grades are 70 to 74; D grades are 65 to 69; E grades are 61 to 64; and F grades are 60 or below.
About Leo J. Shapiro and Associates
Leo J. Shapiro and Associates is a premier market research company with more than 50 years of experience across a wide range of industries. The company has been behind a variety of indexes that measure consumer behaviours and attitudes, including retail customer service satisfaction, significant consumer trends, grocery store shopping and others. Learn more about Leo J. Shapiro and Associates at www.ljs.com.
About Aspect Software
Aspect Software, Inc. founded the contact center industry and is now the world’s largest company solely focused on Internet Protocol (IP) and traditional voice-based products and services for customer service, collections, and sales and telemarketing business processes. Each day, Aspect Software powers more than 125 million customer-company interactions at thousands of in-house and outsourced contact centers around the globe. Its pioneering Unified IP™ Contact Center product line reduces complexity by uniting automated call distribution (ACD), predictive dialling, voice portal, email management, web chat and collaboration, and recording and quality management to provide consolidated administration, routing, reporting and workflow. PerformanceEdge™, the industry’s first fully synchronised contact center optimisation suite combines workforce management, recording and quality management, performance management, campaign management, and coaching and eLearning applications. And, the company’s trusted Signature product line delivers reliable best of breed ACD, predictive dialling, CTI and Voice Portal capabilities. Headquartered in Chelmsford, Massachusetts, Aspect Software has operations across the Americas, Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia Pacific. For more information, visit www.aspect.com.
# # #
Aspect, Aspect Software and Aspect Contact Center Satisfaction Index are either trademarks or registered trademarks of Aspect Software, Inc., in the United States and/or other countries. The names of other companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.