Customer contact a matter of coals to Newcastle

New Study finds personal contact key to customer satisfaction in call centres and a North East accent helps put customers in a good mood

Anew study on call centre trends which surveyed more than 2,000 people across the UK, found that the Geordie accent is not only the friendliest in the UK, it is also most likely to put you in a ‘good mood,’ according to respondents.

Geordie also ranked amongst the top five accents in the categories of trustworthy, helpful and efficient, traits respondents cited as important when speaking to a call centre representative according to the study from Sitel, the Top Inbound Call Centre Outsourcing Vendor as listed by the Black Book of Outsourcing .

The survey also revealed that situations in which customers were not able to speak to a representative were most annoying to respondents when dealing with a call centre, indicating that personal contact is critical to customer satisfaction.

According to the study, women cited being trapped in automated self service as their biggest grievance (28% of women), whilst men pointed to long holding times (30% of men). Being passed from person to person also ranked highly amongst respondents’ call centre complaints (22% of women; 20% of men).

“Based on our experience working with Sitel in Newcastle, it comes as no surprise to me that the Geordie accent rates the friendliest in the UK,” said Fraser Ewen, programme director for Groupe Aeroplan, parent company of the Nectar loyalty programme, a Sitel Newcastle client. “Nectar has outsourced customer care to Sitel’s Newcastle centre for more than seven years. Not only have we been impressed with the quality of knowledge, engagement and professionalism demonstrated by Sitel’s associates, it is clear that our customers relate well to them.”

“For many organisations, the contact centre is the most frequent channel of communication with their customers, so it is important that representatives not only act as an extension of your brand but that they provide your customers with a positive feeling about your company,” said Tim Schuh, general manager, North EMEA, Sitel.

“This study underscores the need to find the balance between cost-efficiency and personal connection because customers place a high value on direct contact with representatives.”