QVC had the highest score in contact center customer satisfaction with a score of 88. QVC beat out Amazon, Costco, O’Reilly Auto Parts and PetSmart which each saw a score of 85, according to the recent ForeSee Experience Index: 2014 U.S. Retail Edition.
The lowest in contact center customer satisfaction was Sears which saw a score of 68. According to the report, the average customer satisfaction with the retailer’s contact center experience is 80.
According to Larry Freed, president and CEO of ForeSee, QVC held the top score in each of the key drivers of the customer experience – accessibility, knowledge and professionalism. Accessibility is convenience of using the contact center, the number of steps to connect with a service representative and how well the service representative connects with you, according to Freed.
Knowledge is around how quick the service representative understands your needs, their ability to directly answer questions and the accuracy of the information provided, according to Freed. Professionalism is how the service representative uses understandable terms in the conversation, is responsive to your questions and concerns, and shows you courtesy.
“Ultimately for any company to improve in those areas it comes down to a number of key things. Hiring the right people, give hem the right training, give them the right tools enable them to be successful, an make it a strategic focus for your company to be customer centric, said Freed.
Freed said looking at the contact center as more than a cost center, but as a driver of long-term loyalty will help a great deal. He said, you cannot manage what you don’t measure.
“It is important to have great measurements in place to be successful, but not just measuring metrics that are important to your organization and the costs, but also measuring success from the customer’s perspective,” said Freed.
The contact center remains a crucial part of the overall shopping experience between the customer and the company in which they are purchasing from, according to the report. It is often looked at as the company’s “last line of defense” in securing and maintaining a customer’s loyalty and relationship.
Retailers are doing well in call resolution and the number of calls to resolve the issue. Eighty-four percent of people said their issue was resolved and had a score of 85 in satisfaction, according to the report. What this means is that 16% did not or weren’t sure if their issue was resolved.
Nine percent of people said their issue was not resolved likely due to a timing issue, perhaps it hadn’t been resolved yet or the consumer needed to take additional action. These respondents had a satisfaction score of 67, according to the report.
Sixty-seven percent of respondents that had their issue resolved on the first call, registered a satisfaction score of 84. Scores fall and fairly significantly with each additional call, according to the report. Twenty-four percent of customers that needed more than one call to resolve the issue with 9% not sure how many calls it took.
Positive results from this channel will result in customers using it again and making positive word-of-mouth recommendations than the dissatisfied shopper, according to the report.
Ninety percent are more likely to contact the company via the channel company and 92% are more likely to recommend the company to a friend, family member or colleague than are dissatisfied shoppers, according to the report.
According to the report, 55% of retailers register knowledge as the top priority affecting the customer contact center experience. Forty-five percent of retailers register professionalism as the top priority affecting the customer contact center experience. And none of retailers register accessibility as the top priority affecting the customer contact center experience.