Bacs research reveals nearly half of mobile phone customers would
switch provider as a result of bad customer service

Research conducted by Bacs Payments Schemes Limited (Bacs) shows that 48% of those who experience poor customer service are more likely to change provider as a result. The research which looked at customer service standards relating to Direct Debit, also showed that, despite having experienced a problem, 21% of people who have had a good customer service experience are likely to use Direct Debits more, and Bacs believes the results illustrate the importance to mobile operators of investment in customer service practices.

Industry figures show that the mobile sector already suffers from high customer churn rates (around 40%*) in comparison to other markets and Bacs’ research shows that mobile operators represent 33% of the top offenders when it comes to customer service

Mike Hutchinson, head of marketing at Bacs, said: “Our research illustrates that mobile operators seem to be failing to recognise the integral value that superior customer service can have to a business where Direct Debit payment is concerned.  In many cases, customer service has become depersonalised, leaving customers dissatisfied and more inclined to change providers.”

Feedback received during Bacs’ research highlighted that key negative experiences can be categories by customer comments, as follows:

• Ineffective - customers complained of a receiving “lots of promises but no action“
• Poor communications - comments suggested issues associated with language barriers: “they struggled to communicate”
• Ineffective - customers indicated a lack of help in resolving issues with comments like: “no help was given when requested”, “no one offered assistance”, “they did nothing well”
• Impersonal – a lack of personal attention was highlighted with comments including: “automatically assumed the worst and sent a threatening letter”, “didn’t give the matter the urgent attention it required”
• Lack of responsibility – comments showed that customer service representatives not taking ‘ownership’ of issues: “they blamed the bank, the bank blamed them”
• Lack of cooperation – customers’ comments pointed to a general sense of non-cooperation and disinterest: “they were dismissive”, “they wouldn’t cooperate”

Hutchinson added: “Looking at our research, when a customer service team adopts a ‘friendly and efficient’ style combined with an ‘understanding’ approach, it results in a positive customer experience. Great customer service can be achieved through regular training, ensuring front line staff are confident in being able to deal with enquiries, even if they may not directly relate to the core product or service being sold, for example a payment method like Direct Debit.”

To support all Direct Debit service users and their customer service teams, Bacs offers a wide range of staff training that can be used to enhance both basic and advanced knowledge of the product. This type of training can directly influence how quickly customer service team members can assist with any queries or issues, moving them away from the slow response time associated with negative experiences and aligning them with the speed connected to those highlighted as positive.

Bacs’ training materials include Direct Debit for Dummies, a free, mini reference guide in the best-selling ‘Dummies’ series, designed to help staff get to grips with the practicalities of Direct Debit in less than 10 minutes.  The guide contains top tips for handling customer queries about Direct Debit, including questions about the Direct Debit Guarantee.

Other training tools from Bacs include a range of five on-line, interactive, courses designed to train customer facing staff in all elements of Bacs payment products, processes and procedures, and a range of accredited training courses, provided in association with external facilitators.  For more information about Bacs range of Direct Debit training tools please visit www.bacs.co.uk/training.

Copies of Bacs’ mobile operator customer service white paper, “Customer Service Value for Mobile Operators”, are available from: www.bacs.co.uk/whitepapers.

 
*Customer Think Corporation, http://www.customerthink.com/article/customer_retention_priority_mobile_phone_providers