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Genesys Study Finds the UK Tops in Customer Intelligence Usage

January 20, 2009

Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories, an Alcatel-Lucent company, has revealed in a new survey on performance management that businesses "need a new set of strategic metrics to retain customers and drive sales."

 
The research cited by Genesys officials shows that while British firms are more likely to adopt strategic metrics than other regions to better assess customer service delivery and retention, there is still work to be done. Contact centers are largely operational and use traditional metrics, such as call duration or average speed to answer, to assess the customer experience.
 
Only 30 percent measure revenue per call, which survey officials say "would provide more useful customer intelligence."
 
Almost a third of the UK businesses surveyed -- 31 percent -- are taking actions to address performance management and reporting in the next 18 months, the survey found. The global survey was carried out for Genesys by independent research company, Equation, and polled employees ranging from CEOs to customer service professionals at 927 companies in 47 countries.
 
"A downturn can be an opportunity for an organization to gain a competitive advantage. Some companies will certainly have to close their doors, but those with more focused efficiency strategies, meaningful employee performance measurements and customer-related targets, have the potential to thrive in the current climate," commented Keith Pearce, marketing director, EMEA, at Genesys.
 
The research found that a large number of businesses still don't measure revenue from customer care interactions. Although 77 percent of UK respondents said that the contact center plays a role in revenue generation, only 33 percent of customer service professionals and 28 percent of C-level executives said their customer service is measured on revenue per call.
 
Pearce said the research shows that a higher proportion of UK businesses (55 per =cent) track customer expectations compared to only 48 per cent in other regions, with over 28 percent of companies in the UK planning to link business drivers with customer behaviors.
 
Last summer TMC's Calvin Azuri reported that PSS announced they partnered with Genesys to provide applications and support for the Genesys Voice Platform 8. This platform, introduced at SpeechTek in New York last August, helps customers transition gracefully from a legacy to a next-generation contact center infrastructure.
 
Don’t forget to check out ContactCenterSolutions’s White Paper Library, which provides a selection of in-depth information on relevant topics affecting the IP Communications industry. The library offers white papers, case studies and other documents which are free to registered users. Today’s featured white paper is Fixed Service Strategies for Mobile Network Operators, brought to you by Comverse.

David Sims is a contributing editor for ContactCenterSolutions. To read more of David's articles, please visit his columnist page. He also blogs for ContactCenterSolutions here.

Edited by Michelle Robart



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