Almost half of UK consumers (45%) would leave their current operator if they did not sell the handset they wanted, according to a new survey.
The research, from ecommerce technology provider ATG give operators valuable insight into the types of services customers would like to see integrated into their brand experience.
The research also demonstrates that a large proportion of consumers across Europe don’t feel loyalty to their current mobile operators, with 31 per cent of those surveyed saying they have been with two mobile operators in the last five years.
A further 10 per cent of consumers reported they have been with three or more mobile networks in the last five years.
The results show consumers rate their network’s current customer service as either ‘poor’ or ‘very poor’, and 72 per cent of those surveyed only visit their operator’s website once a month, to check their bill online.
Consumers surveyed also revealed they are keen for operators to improve customer service online.
For example, one-third (33%) of customers surveyed said they would like to have ‘click to call’ services integrated into operators websites, to make contact simpler and easier when issues arise.
Meanwhile, 29 per cent of those surveyed said they would like a more tailored homepage, with one in five (21%) in favour of personalised search results being offered by mobile operator homepage sites.
These results were similar to those found across Europe, details below.
Fig.1: Brand loyalty, as measured by response to question: ‘Would you switch operators if your current operator did not have the handset you wanted?’
Fig.2: Additional services customer would like to have, broken down by country
Brendan Cooling, ATG’s Director of Client Development for Communication Solutions, comments on the results: “With saturated markets, mobile operators are increasingly fighting against customer churn, so improving online customer service and hence loyalty is hugely important.
“The means and technology for companies to personalise each customer’s experience is already available and relatively simple to integrate into existing websites. With more people heading online for customer service, this research should act as a wake-up call. Operators today must engage customers better and roll out personalised service online if they are to attract and retain customers.”
http://www.atg.com.
