Contact Centre Summit | Forum Events Contact Centre Summit | Forum Events Contact Centre Summit | Forum Events Contact Centre Summit | Forum Events Contact Centre Summit | Forum Events

Posts Tagged :

Amazon

Amazon still top of UK customer satisfaction index

 960 640 Stuart O'Brien
By:
0

Amazon is still number one in the UK Customer Satisfaction Index (UKCSI), published by The Institute of Customer Service.

With a customer satisfaction score of 86.7 points (out of 100) this is the sixth consecutive time consumers have rated Amazon number one.

Eight non-food retailers make up this year’s top 20, and the retail sector performed better than any other boasting an average score of 82.2, against a backdrop of challenges that continue apace for High Street brands.

The food retail sector performed best after non-food retail with an average score of 81.2. Iceland took the top spot for the first time, whilst also claiming the title of most improved supermarket, having climbed 26 places in the rankings in just six months.

Four financial institutions made the top 10 organisations, with Yorkshire Bank scoring highest, followed by First Direct and Nationwide. The banking sector overall performed better than ever before, reaching a score of 80.4 and exceeding the UK all sector average score of 77.9.

The Institute warns that “survival of the fittest will be driven by how well customers are served”. After a steady increase in the first five years of the last decade, the latest UKCSI shows levels of UK customer satisfaction across all brands peaked in 2012/13 and have largely plateaued since.

The UKCSI is the national measure of UK customer satisfaction. It rates customer satisfaction at a national, sector and organisational level across 13 sectors – incorporating the views of 10,000 consumers. More than 30 different customer measures are surveyed – such as staff professionalism, the quality and efficiency of the service, trust and transparency scores, the actual customer experience and complaint handling – are factored into the results. It is published twice a year, in January and July.

Jo Causon, CEO of The Institute for Customer Service said: “The stagnation in customer service levels should be of concern for the UK economy. This comes at a time when, just nine months from Brexit, we need more than ever before to show that Britain is a great place to do business with and in.

“Alongside tangible financial measures, trust, reputation and recommendation are crucial benefits of a deliberate and consistent focus on achieving high levels of customer satisfaction. The UKCSI shows that customers who give the highest ratings for customer satisfaction – express strong levels of loyalty, which brands will need in difficult and unpredictable market conditions.”

This UKCSI’s top organisations are rated favourably for measures of customer effort, trust, ease of contact, employee helpfulness and competence, speed of response, getting things right first time and complaint handling.

The top 50 rated organisations in July 2018’s UKCSI are:

1. Amazon.co.uk

2. John Lewis Retail

3. = Next Retail, Yorkshire Bank

5. = first direct, Nationwide Building Society

7. Tesco Mobile

8. = M&S Bank, Wilko Retail

10. Iceland

11. Netflix

12. Specsavers

13. Pets at Home

14. = Greggs, Superdrug

16. = Argos, Trivago, Waitrose Retail

19. Nationwide Insurance

20. = Green Flag Services, Jet2holidays.com

22. Aviva

23. = Aldi, M&S (food)

25. = Jet2. LV=

27. Halfords autocentre

28. = eBay, Premier Inn

30. SAGA Insurance

31. Santander

32. M&S

33. = Holland & Barrett, Honda, Kia

36. Caffe Nero

37. = Brittany Ferries, Jaguar

39. = Apple, booking.com, Co-op Insurance, Mini, TSB

44. = giffgaff, More Than, Primark

47. Halifax

48. = Lidl, Subway, Toby Carvery

AWS

AWS unveils Amazon Connect for contact centres

 960 640 Stuart O'Brien
By:
0

A new contact centre service, Amazon Connect, has been launched by Amazon Web Services (AWS), providing users with a self-service, cloud-based platform and the ability to create their own contact centre, moving AWS into the profitable customer service market.

Amazon Connect is cloud powered and based on the contact centre technology used by Amazon’s e-commerce operations.

It provides each contact centre with the ability to run in multiple AWS availability zones and is launched via the AWS Management Console.

The system also includes a Contact Flow Editor (CFE), which powers the service with blocks for control flow, interaction, integration branching and other services.

Providing the best possible customer service and user experience is the top of the agenda for most modern businesses and organisations, who are constantly looking for platforms that can deliver an efficient and effective service, with many choosing to operate voice-based customer service to scale.

The traditional method of Integrated Voice Response (IVR) has suffered numerous issues, with installation and license of the platform expensive in comparison.

Amazon claims Connect will make it easier to set-up a customer contact centre (in a matter of minutes), plus allow companies to integrate data from various other systems to provide a seamless customer experience across many channels.

Connect can also be paid for by the sip, and will scale the virtual contact centre as needed with the ability to support thousands of agents across the platform.

Other features include caller experience design tools, connections to third party CRM, analytics tools and links to other AWS services and databases.

www.aws.amazon.com/connect

‘Your call is valued’ most annoying queue time feature, Which? reveals…

 800 450 Jack Wynn
By:
0

A new study of 2,260 Which? members found that being told ‘your call is valued’ was the most annoying feature when waiting in a queue for an operator to answer (47 per cent); followed by being directed to the company’s website (28 per cent) and apologies for all operators being busy (11 per cent).

Regarding sounds played over the phone whilst waiting, an engaged tone (29 per cent) topped the list; closely followed by rock music (22 per cent) and background music with no specific tune (21 per cent). Almost half (48 per cent) branded classical music as the most ‘soothing’. 

When members were asked about the most useful features to hear, 33 per cent cited being told how long you have to wait; 32 per cent said where you are in the queue; and 30 per cent stated the offer of being called back if you leave your number.

Richard Headland of Which? commented: “Waiting on hold is a waste of time, but some organisations make the experience needlessly annoying through objectionable messages and music. If these drive you round the bend, vote with your feet and take your custom elsewhere. The best companies know the value of answering your call quickly.”

The study did acknowledge companies that are ‘leading the way’ in improving customer experience, with members claiming that Aviva allows you to choose your hold music, Screwfix tells you your place in the queue and Amazon calls you for free after placing a request via their website.

In contrast, HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) were singled out for criticism by some Which? members for not giving information on your place in the queue and being encouraged to visit their website.