Survey Says Social Media Improves Call Center Management

A survey by LogMeIn, Inc. and market research firm Ovum (News - Alert) reveals a shifting mindset of telecommunications operators regarding the measurement of contact center management and success.

Covering over 100 customer service managers within organizations in the US, UK, Canada and Australia, the survey found that customer satisfaction metrics exceed traditional cost savings and efficiency metrics, like average handle time (AHT) and first call resolution (FCR), as the primary focus of contact center success. Nearly 70 percent cited investments in online technologies, including live chat and social media, as key contributors to increasing customer satisfaction in contact and call center management success.

“A couple years ago, virtually every call center and help desk team would ask us to show them how our products could help them control costs and become more efficient. These days, those same people and organizations want to know one thing: Can your products help us increase customer satisfaction?" said Lee Weiner, LogMeIn's (News - Alert) vice president of support products, in a press release. "This data reinforces what we believe to be a positive and rather remarkable shift in strategy that favors both businesses and consumers an acknowledgement of the growing power of customer referrals."

LogMeIn provides cloud-based services for remote access, collaboration, customer care, and remote IT management to over 15 million customers. The company’s services provide fast, easy connection to 150 million internet-enabled devices all over the world.

The survey found that 90 percent of respondents are measuring the success of their service and support organization based on customer satisfaction metrics. Sixty-two percent cited customer satisfaction as the number one priority for their contact center today, outranking average handle time and first call resolution metrics.

Sixty-nine percent of organizations in the survey cited investments in online customer engagement channels such as live chat, social networks, and forums. Another 69 percent of respondents are actively in the process of quantifying direct financial benefits of improved customer satisfaction. Thirty percent of the organizations surveyed have adopted the philosophy of Net Promoter Score (NPS), an industry standard measure based on the likelihood of recommending a company, product or service to colleagues or friends.

"Today's operators and device OEMs are increasingly looking at customer experience as a means of differentiation, and we believe this is changing the way they engage with their customers, from pre-sale service to post-sale support," said Aphrodite Brinsmead, Customer Interaction Analyst at Ovum, in a press release. “

The LogMeln and Ovum survey covered telecommunications companies, technology companies, retail and wholesale companies, as well as government and education organizations. Respondents were asked eight different questions regarding the importance of various metrics used to measure contact center success, as well as which tools they use to monitor satisfaction, and questions about short-term and mid-term investment plans.

Edited by Carrie Schmelkin