Which brands get top marks from consumers when it comes to contact center experience? Allstate, Bank of America, Cox, Kaiser Permanente, and T-Mobile took the top spots in their industries based on a survey of 6,338 consumers. The resulting research also finds that companies can save more than one million dollars per one million calls by increasing the success of their digital, self-serve options by 25 percent.
The results were announced today by Verint® Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: VRNT), The Customer Engagement Company™, based on the latest Verint Experience Index™, which benchmarks customer satisfaction with the contact center experiences of 25 leading brands in the banking, health insurance, property/casualty insurance, cable and telecom sectors. The brands’ Net Promoter Scores® were also factored in compiling the rankings.
For more than a decade, the Verint Experience Index (VXI) has chronicled digital and omnichannel experiences across key industries, from retail to utilities to government (previous editions were published as the ForeSee Experience Index). The latest VXI, based specifically on the telephone contact experience, measures four key drivers that impact a caller’s overall satisfaction with their contact center experience: accessibility in reaching an agent, request resolution, sales-service representative, and voice clarity and quality. Allstate was the only brand to rank first in all four drivers while Bank of America, Spectrum and Humana each ranked first for three out of four drivers.
The Index also uncovers key findings underscoring the impact of consumer contact-center satisfaction on the overall omnichannel customer journey, including the correlation between issue resolution and switch consideration/churn rates, increase in self-service and hundreds of thousands of dollars in savings, and the connection between great experiences and the likelihood to recommend the brand.
Self-service success = one million dollars in savings
Reinforcing the omnichannel nature of the customer journey today, nearly half of consumers engaged in a digital experience prior to calling the contact center. This ranged from 51 percent of consumers for health insurers to 46 percent for property/casualty insurers. The study also found that a 25 percent increase in self-service success rates could result in savings of over one million dollars per contact center, with health insurers standing to gain the most. The potential savings for each one million calls diverted from the contact center was calculated to range from $1,147,500 for health insurers to $1,080,000 for banking and telecom providers, $1,057,500 for cable providers and $1,035,000 for property/casualty insurers.
Risk of customer defection trends high when issues are not resolved
High call resolution is a central focus for brands aspiring to deliver quality customer service. Non-resolution rates, which range from 14-20 percent per sector, can result in an increased risk of customer defection. The research revealed that of those consumers who reported their issues were not resolved, nearly half would consider switching to a competitor. The study looked at the correlation between issue resolution rate and proclivity to churn in order to evaluate the proportion of respondents who would consider switching providers. The stakes were found to be highest in the cable industry, where 66 percent would consider a switch resulting in a churn rate of 13.2 percent.
Consumers reward great customer experience
Regardless of industry, consumers value and reward brands that deliver great customer experiences, and satisfaction impacts future behavior. Banking customers with a great experience (a CSAT score of 80 or higher) had a 134 percent higher likelihood to recommend the brand than those with a poor experience (CSAT of 60 or lower). A great experience in the cable sector netted the highest likelihood-to-recommend score of all industries evaluated in the index – 163 percent – underscoring the vital importance of customer experience in this industry.
“Leading consumer brands know exceptional customer experiences are paramount; they also recognize the value of the contact center as the cornerstone of a strategic omnichannel customer-experience management approach,” says Verint’s Ben Smith, vice president and general manager, Experience Management solutions. “We are pleased to share the Verint Experience Index as a benchmark as more companies recognize the value of experience data as a key driver for accelerating business outcomes.”
For the full report, including vertical-specific analysis of satisfaction drivers with the most impact and the full rankings for the 25 companies profiled, download the Verint Experience Index: Contact Center edition here.
About the report
For more than a decade, the Verint Experience Index (VXI) has chronicled digital and omnichannel experiences across key industries from retail to utilities to government. Previous editions of the Index were published as the ForeSee Experience Index and are available here.
This edition of the VXI, a panel survey report, examines and ranks the telephone contact center customer-service experiences of the largest companies in five categories: banking, cable/satellite television services, health insurance, property/casualty insurance, and telecommunications. The criteria for selecting the included companies was based on rankings of the largest companies provided by independent, third-party sources including Federal Communications Commission, Federal Reserve, National Association of Insurance Commissioners, and Statista.
The VXI study featured a panel sample of 6,338 survey respondents, representative of the U.S. general population, with at least 250 responses for each brand. Responses were collected from Sept. 30 - Oct. 25, 2019. Rankings in the VXI are based on CSAT, using a scale of 0 to 100 with a margin of error of +/-2.35. NPS® is also shown, on a scale of -100 to 100, and has a margin of error of approximately 8.35. When two or more scores are identical at one decimal place, the next decimal place is used to break ties and determine the ranking.
About Verint Systems Inc.
Verint® (Nasdaq: VRNT) is a global leader in Actionable Intelligence® solutions with a focus on customer engagement optimization and cyber intelligence. Today, over 10,000 organizations in more than 180 countries—including over 85 percent of the Fortune 100—count on intelligence from Verint solutions to make more informed, effective and timely decisions. Learn more about how we’re creating A Smarter World with Actionable Intelligence® at www.verint.com.
This press release contains “forward-looking statements,” including statements regarding expectations, predictions, views, opportunities, plans, strategies, beliefs, and statements of similar effect relating to Verint Systems Inc. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and they are based on management's expectations that involve a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions, any of which could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in or implied by the forward-looking statements. For a detailed discussion of these risk factors, see our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended January 31, 2019, our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended October 31, 2019, and other filings we make with the SEC. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date of this press release and, except as required by law, Verint assumes no obligation to update or revise them or to provide reasons why actual results may differ.
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Contacts:
Amy Curry
Verint Systems Inc.
amy.curry@verint.com
