Failing customer service creates age of DIY consumer- study

A new study from voice and information solutions firm Intervoice, indicates that more than a quarter of consumers would be influenced to switch service providers if they offered more ‘self-service’, with a third believing that this would improve their views of customer service in general.

The Intervoice Customer Interactions Study 2006 questioned more than 1,200 people in the UK to examine how consumer expectations of customer service are changing.

Richard Arnold, deputy managing director, EMEA at Intervoice, said: “ “If one considers the spending power at stake then the market opportunity for those providers that will ramp up first can be estimated in the billions. The answer is not just going multi-channel, but about the systems that are deployed across those channels to give consumers more power.”

The study also confirmed that consumer loyalty is in a state of flux with 42% of people on average being less likely to stick to the same brand and shop around more compared to five years ago.

Amongst all of the reasons cited for why people had already changed providers, 39% highlighted better access to services and more than one in five more self control such as having the option to perform some basic transactions independently either online or through automated telephone services.  

Intervoice commissioned the research from leading consumer research specialist TNS as part of the company’s development of its next-generation of personalised services solutions for enterprises and network operators.