UK consumers facing service ‘black hole’ online

Fewer than half of websites and email channels are able to answer basic customer service questions according to an eye-opening new report that reveals a lack of consistency in service delivery across channels

Despite challenging economic times, UK online businesses are failing to recognise that customer service is king. A revealing new report - The 2011 Eptica UK Multichannel Customer Service Study - lays bare the gulf in customer service support that UK consumers face when buying online.

The report also reveals a worrying email black hole with less than half of companies (48%) correctly answering questions posed over email, 47% not acknowledging receipt of the email and one in four (27%) failing to respond at all.

The in-depth study by Eptica looked at how customer service performance is faring at 100 leading UK organisations with regard to their ability to answer simple routine questions via email, their website and whether they had integrated their customer service with social media. With websites only able to provide the answer to 50% of enquiries on average, consumers are being forced to contact companies via email, but this by no means guarantees a better service.

The time it took to respond to emails varied massively with the longest answer taking five days (120 hours), and the average time taking 20 hours and 41 minutes. Interestingly, only 28% of companies were able to provide responses within their own specified timeframes - a move that breeds distrust and frustration for the consumer. However, receiving a fast and accurate response is possible with one company responding with useful information in a blistering 3 minutes.

Dee Roche, European Marketing Director at Eptica, commented: “This report signals a wake-up call for the industry. Customers don’t want to feel as if they’ve disappeared into a black hole where their voice is not being heard.  Some of the findings, particularly in relation to the lack of responsiveness via email are unforgiveable and the situation in relation to email response is continuing to deteriorate.  It is important that organisations deliver consistency of customer service across all channels.

“Damage to a brand, high customer churn and lost sales opportunities can all be avoided if the company develops an integrated and consistent approach to its online customer service.”

To find out if your business is implementing best practice customer service visit http://www.eptica.com for a full copy of the Report.