Barely a month ago, in December, two different studies were released measuring the satisfaction levels of U.S. consumers with their call centers. Call center technology solutions company, Aspect Software, which surveyed more than 1000 consumers and 150 call-center professionals, initiated the first study. The aim of the study was to measure the level of customer satisfaction, and the gap between that and the call-center professionals’ perception of that satisfaction.
The second study was initiated by independent market research firm, Opinion Research Corporation (ORC), which measured and analyzed customer satisfaction, and added another interesting angle: the perceived differences in the level of customer service provided by onshore and offshore-based call centers.
The details of the studies were different, as the scope differed. But what is interesting is that, both had similar conclusions at a macro level — the U.S. consumers were clearly unhappy with their call centers.
The Aspect study revealed that more than 23% of consumers felt that contact-center interactions fell short of expectations, while the ORC research put that at a higher plane — 38% feeling the same.
The ORC survey outlines two major issues at the heart of this disappointment — first, a significant gap has been found between the performances of the Call centers in the U.S.A. vis-À-vis the ones perceived outside of it. The American public believes that out of the Call centers, which fail to match their expectations, most of them are outside of the U.S.A.
However, the location itself, is not the issue, clarifies Jeff Resnick, EVP and Global Managing Director, ORC. “In today’s world of offshoring, the customer is really not interested in knowing whether the call center is based in the U.S.A. or outside, and whether the person has an American accent or not,” says Resnick. “When a customer dials a call center, what he is looking for is someone who can understand and address his problems in the shortest time possible,” he adds. Also, as many as 36% believe that in future, call centers are more likely to be located offshore, according to the study.
Ressnick states that customer expectations also tend to vary with the industry the company belongs to. “For example, if the company is dealing in electronics, then the kind of problems faced by the customer will be completely different from other sectors, and thus, his expectations from the call center will also be a lot more different,” he says.
The second is the language issue. It is interesting to note that a vast majority of respondents (69%) did not actually have any problem in communicating with the customer-service representatives. But, amongst those who did complain about the inability to communicate, more than one-half believed that the call center was outside of the U.S.A. Understanding the accent of the call-center representative too surfaced as an issue — surprisingly even with onshore call centers.
The key challenge outlined by the ORC study, however, is identifying and solving a customer’s problem, which takes priority over the above-mentioned issues.
Says Linda Shea, SVP and Global Managing Director, Customer Loyalty Practice, ORC, “While there are certainly issues with offshore call centers, we must not allow this to be used as a cover to mask our own deficiencies.” Understanding the customer’s issue is clearly the first major step. Says Toni Portmann, CEO, Stream International, U.S.A., “When we look at hiring people at offshore locations, what we are looking for is not just accent. Accent is not as important as comprehension. What we look for is more of comprehension skills.”
