Syndicated Reports: Other Topics

2005 Best Practices in Telephone Customer Service
A 2005 Call Center Benchmark Report

This report, published in June of 2005 by Portland Research Group, conducted an online survey of US households through January 2004 to January 2005.

The report - recommended by the likes of Dietmar Hering, Director of Call Centre Operations for AOL France for helping its readers understand where they stand in the all-important area of Customer Service and its impact on Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty - found a strong correlation between a customer's feelings regarding the experience they have had with a company's customer service team and their likelihood to continue to purchase products or services from that company. Among other things, the study also found:

• In 2004, three out of five contactors (59%) were satisfied with the response they received when contacting a company for assistance.
• Only half (50%) of contactors calling into a US company are likely to purchase additional products and/or services from the company they contacted.
• Consumer loyalty drops by 76 percentage points when a contactor is less than satisifed with the response he or she receives.

Download an Executive Brief by clicking HERE

Pages: Full Report - 66, Management Summary - 43
Format: Microsoft PowerPoint
Cost: Full Report - $950.00, Management Summary - $199.00

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Table of Contents

Section 1: Methodology

• Data Collection Process
• Weighting Process
  

Section 2: Executive Summary

• Overall Perspective (Contactor Satisfaction and Loyalty)
• Reason for Contact (Question/ Problem Type)
• Purchase Options
• Call Center Agent Service Levels (Professionalism, Knowledge, Authority)
• Agent Response Service Levels (Timeliness, Clarity, Follow Through on Promised Action)
• Call Center Service Standards (First Call Resolution, Hold, Number of Transfers)

Section 3: Overall Perspective

• Executive Summary
• Overall Contactor Satisfaction Benchmark
  • Industry Segmentation: Telco/ISP, Consumer Goods/ Retail, Consumer Services/ Medical, Travel/ Food/ Lodging
    
• Overall Contactor Loyalty Benchmark
  • Industry Segmentation: Telco/ISP, Consumer Goods/ Retail, Consumer Services/ Medical, Travel/ Food/ Lodging
    
• Relationship Between Satisfaction and Loyalty

Section 4: Reason for Contact

• Executive Summary
• Reason for Contact (Question/ Problem Type)
• Question/ Problem Type by Industry Segmentation
  • Industry Segmentation: Telco/ISP, Consumer Goods/ Retail, Consumer Services/ Medical, Travel/ Food/ Lodging
    
• Contactor Satisfaction by Reason for Contact

Section 5: Representative and Response

• Executive Summary
  • Call Center Agent Performance
    • Overall Professionalism
    • Knowledge
    • Authority to Resolve Caller’s Question/ Problem
  • Agent Response Service Levels
    • Timeliness of Response
    • Clarity of Response
    • Follow Through on Promised Action
• Call Center Agent Performance
  • Overall Agent Professionalism Benchmark
  • Professionalism by Reason for Contact (Caller’s Question/ Problem)\
  • Professionalism by Industry Segmentation
    • Industry Segmentation: Telco/ISP, Consumer Goods/ Retail, Consumer Services/ Medical, Travel/ Food/ Lodging
  • Overall Agent Knowledge Benchmark
    • Knowledge by Reason for Contact (Caller’s Question/ Problem)
    • Knowledge by Industry Segmentation
      • Industry Segmentation: Telco/ISP, Consumer Goods/ Retail, Consumer Services/ Medical, Travel/ Food/ Lodging
  • Overall Agent Authority to Resolve a Caller’s Question/ Problem Benchmark
  • Authority by Reason for Contact (Caller’s Question/ Problem)
  • Authority by Industry Segmentation
  • Industry Segmentation: Telco/ISP, Consumer Goods/ Retail, Consumer Services/ Medical, Travel/ Food/ Lodging
• Agent Response Service Levels
  • Timeliness of Response Benchmark
  • Timeliness by Reason for Contact (Caller’s Question/ Problem)
  • Timeliness by Industry Segmentation
    • Industry Segmentation: Telco/ISP, Consumer Goods/ Retail, Consumer Services/ Medical, Travel/ Food/ Lodging
  • Clarity of Response Benchmark
    • Clarity by Reason for Contact (Caller’s Question/ Problem)
    • Clarity by Industry Segmentation
    • Industry Segmentation: Telco/ISP, Consumer Goods/ Retail, Consumer Services/ Medical, Travel/ Food/ Lodging
  • Follow Through on Promised Action Benchmark
  • Follow Through by Reason for Contact (Caller’s Question/ Problem)
  • Follow Through by Industry Segmentation
    • Industry Segmentation: Telco/ISP, Consumer Goods/ Retail, Consumer Services/ Medical, Travel/ Food/ Lodging
      

Section 6: Service Standards

• Executive Summary
  • Number of Contacts before Resolution
  • Put on Hold
  • Number of Transfers
• Number of Contacts Benchmark
  • Benchmark Service Standard
  • Average Number of Contacts by Reason for Contact (Question/ Problem Type)
• Put on Hold Benchmark
  • Benchmark Service Standard
• Number of Transfers Benchmark
  • Benchmark Service Standard
  • Average Number of Transfers by Reason for Contact (Question/ Problem Type)

Section 7: Scorecards

• Overall Call Center Scorecard
  • Customer Service Index (CSI) Benchmark Score
  • Agent Index (AI) Benchmark Score
  • Response Index (RI) Benchmark Score
• Telecommunications/ ISP Call Center Scorecard
  • Customer Service Index (CSI) Benchmark Score
  • Agent Index (AI) Benchmark Score
  • Response Index (RI) Benchmark Score
• Consumer Goods/ Retail Call Center Scorecard
  • Customer Service Index (CSI) Benchmark Score
  • Agent Index (AI) Benchmark Score
  • Response Index (RI) Benchmark Score
• Consumer Services/ Medical Call Center Scorecard
  • Customer Service Index (CSI) Benchmark Score
  • Agent Index (AI) Benchmark Score
  • Response Index (RI) Benchmark Score
• Travel/ Food/ Lodging Call Center Scorecard
  • Customer Service Index (CSI) Benchmark Score
  • Agent Index (AI) Benchmark Score
  • Response Index (RI) Benchmark Score

Section 8: Appendix

• List of Companies Contacted
• Questionnaire Extract
• More Information