Released on: July 17, 2008, 2:16 am

Press Release Author: Top 50 Call Centres

Industry: Telecommunications

Press Release Summary: . 69% of UK consumers would be less likely to purchase after
a negative call centre experience, rising to 75% amongst 16-44 year olds
. Seven out of ten customers say they might or would definitely tell someone about a
negative call centre experience
. Almost half of 25-44 year olds have changed suppliers because of a negative call
centre experience compared to 35% across whole population
. Call Centre Focus Magazine launches independent initiative to find the UK's Top 50
Call Centres for Customer Service


Press Release Body: London, UK, 17th July 2008: UK businesses that operate a call
centre could be sitting on a demographic time bomb that threatens their future. New
research released today shows that nearly half of 25-44 year old consumers have
changed suppliers because of a negative call centre experience, significantly higher
than the national average of 35%. And what makes things worse is that seven out of
ten UK consumers say they would probably or definitely tell someone about a poor
call centre experience.

The new research, carried out by leading market researcher GfK NOP Consumer,
coincides with the launch of the UK's biggest ever industry-wide mystery shopping
study to find the country's Top 50 Call Centres for Customer Service. This
independent initiative, led by Call Centre Focus magazine, aims to recognise good
practice and raise customer service standards across the industry.

Claudia Hathway, Editor of Call Centre Focus comments:

"The message of this research is clear. Call centres need to provide a great
experience for their customers, or risk losing their business. And that means
developing a customer-centric service strategy that takes into account the changing
needs of today's consumers. To help find out what customers really want and
highlight good industry practice, we will be carrying out 20,000 mystery shopping
calls over the summer to find the UK's Top 50 Call Centres for Customer Service."

The growing importance of word of mouth recommendations was highlighted by the
research, particularly amongst younger consumers, with 51% of 16-24 year olds saying
they would definitely tell someone about a negative call centre experience, compared
to 38% of 45-54 year olds.

Dr. Max Blumberg, Customer Management Strategist and Visiting Researcher at the
University of London, who specialises in motivating workforces, leadership teams and
sales forces said:

"This is very important news for bigger brands, who could be sitting on a
demographic time bomb. They need to understand that the service provided by call
centres is a key component of brand value in driving customer acquisition and repeat
purchasing; it is no longer enough to focus on product and price alone. Consumers
take a more holistic view of value when making purchasing decisions and the UK's
most affluent demographic groups are most likely to wield their buying power by
changing suppliers.



"Yet even though the importance of customer service is well established many
companies invest more in innovative product development and pricing strategies than
they do in customer-oriented call-centre strategies. These companies usually end up
with fantastic, well-priced products, but with markets that will not buy them
because of personal or word-of-mouth negative call-centre experiences.

"Younger consumers are also much more likely than their parents to share their
negative experiences with large audiences via internet chat, blogs and mobile
communications. Brands who ignore these demographic trends are taking a big risk and
are also likely to take a big hit on sales."

The research also revealed that good customer service can produce powerful brand
advocates with 49% saying they would be more loyal to a company after a positive
call centre experience and 23% saying they would definitely recommend an
organisation to other people. This figure rose to 29% amongst 16-24 year olds.

When asked to select the three most important aspects of customer service, friendly
agents were seen as key by 53% of consumers, alongside speed of call answering (57%)
and knowledgeable agents (49%). These qualities were seen as much more important
than having their problems resolved in a single call (41%), being told their
position in the queue while on hold (21%) and agents having access to their account
history (20%).

The three most frustrating aspects of poor customer service when calling a call
centre were complicated automated systems cited by 53% of consumers, together with
long phone queues or long periods on hold (52%) and having to repeat your enquiry
(42%).

Ends

Notes to editors:

About Call Centre Focus
Call Centre Focus is the UK's leading monthly magazine covering all aspects of the
call centre industry and customer service in general. Articles give practical advice
and tips on how to ensure successful and effective customer contact and the
regularly updated website (www.callcentre.co.uk) ensures that readers are kept
abreast of the very latest market news. In short, it is a one-stop-shop for call
centre professionals everywhere.

About Top 50 Call Centres
The Top 50 Call Centre initiative is a benchmarking exercise, in partnership with
GfK NOP, an independent market research organisation, that aims to help call centres
find out how the general public thinks they are performing through over 20,000
mystery shopping calls, half of these from current customers of each independent
call centre.

Calls will be rated for customer service criteria identified by the customers
themselves including timeliness, ease of use, reliability, staff knowledge and
personalisation. The calls will reflect different enquiry types from simple requests
to more complex enquiries, truly reflecting the range of calls the call centre
receives. They will take place at different times of day, during peak and non peak
periods, including weekends.

Research Methodology
GfK NOP Consumer carried out a survey of adults aged 16 years. The sample was
designed to be representative of all adults in telephone owning households in the
UK. Interviewing was carried out using fully trained and supervised market research
interviewers. Interviews were carried out by telephone, using Computer Assisted
Telephone Interviewing (CATI). Respondents were selected using random digit dialing.
Quotas were set in terms of region, sex within age and class. 10% of interviews are
monitored. The sample has been weighted to bring it into line with national
population profiles and throughout this report both the weighted and unweighted
bases have been shown.



Web Site: http://www.top50callcentres.co.uk

Contact Details: Media contacts
For more information please contact:
Gabriela Warren
Wildfire PR
T: 0208 339 4420
E: Top50@wildfirepr.co.uk