Customer Service Rated Highly by the Majority of Call Center Executives, According to Firstsource Survey

Call Center executives are confident in the customer service they deliver, according to a survey conducted by Firstsource Solutions at Call Center Week, held recently in Las Vegas. The vast majority, or 85 percent, rated their organization's customer service as "Exceptional" or "Good" while only one percent admitted to delivering poor customer service.

Over a third, or 37 percent, of executives cited ensuring a positive customer experience as the biggest challenge facing contact centers today. When asked about the number one obstacle derailing exceptional customer service, 41 percent of respondents said deficient use of data, followed by a weak connection between customer and agent (38 percent), lack of awareness regarding customer concerns (13 percent), and poor management of personnel (8 percent).

"It is not surprising that ensuring a positive customer experience is top of mind for contact center executives. Given the intensely competitive marketplace in industries across the board, effective analysis and use of data is becoming more and more ingrained in an organization's customer service practices. Actionable data analysis is a key element to understanding customer behavior and desires, and refining contact center practices that then increase satisfaction and reduce churn," said Michael Roy, Vice President, Strategy and Advisor Relations, Firstsource.

Converting to a multichannel approach was cited by 35 percent of respondents as the biggest challenge facing contact centers today. However, when it comes to integrating social media into the call center, 40 percent of executives find making the brand part of the online relationship with customers to be their biggest challenge. Adapting KPIs to match social media interactions is the second biggest challenge, as cited by 29 percent, followed by legal liabilities (18 percent), and the agent's digital communication abilities (13 percent).

Roy continued: "Part of delivering a positive experience is making sure contact centers are able to communicate with the customer in their preferred method, meeting them where they are, agnostic to device. Yet implementing a multichannel approach is challenging and requires a 360 degree view of customer behavior and propensities meshed with the organization's capabilities and priorities."

When looking to implement a multichannel approach, 38 percent cited web chat as the top priority, followed closely by mobile (26 percent), social networking (22 percent) and analytics (14 percent). The majority, or 79 percent, of executives surveyed, either fully utilize or somewhat utilize social and digital media to communicate with customers. Only two percent of respondents said they do not utilize any social or digital media channels and have no plans to do so.

About the Survey

The survey of 100 call center professionals was conducted by Firstsource at the 14^th Annual IQPC Call Center Week event on June 10-14, 2013 in Las Vegas.

About Firstsource

Firstsource Solutions (NSE: FSL, BSE: 532809, Reuters: FISO.BO, Bloomberg: FSOL@IN) is a leading global provider of customised business process outsource services to the telecom & media, banking & financial services and healthcare industries. Its clients include Fortune 500, FTSE 100 & Nifty 50 companies. Firstsource has a "rightshore" delivery model with operations in India, US, UK, Ireland, Sri Lanka and Philippines. (www.firstsource.com).

Media inquiries:
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