The Customer Service Survey
VocaLabs' weblog providing news and commentary on the challenges of providing good customer service.
4Q 06' SectorPulse Data Released
Thursday - January 11, 2007 11:42 AM in
The Press Release announcing the results of our ongoing study of service quality among the major cell phone companies and financial institutions hit the newswires this morning.
Among the major wireless carriers, Verizon and T-Mobile have traded first place over the three years we have tracked service quality. Cingular, perhaps burdened by the absorption of former AT&T Wireless customers, has trailed slightly; and Sprint has consistently lagged behind.
Yet all four have improved by statistically meaningful amounts and the performance gaps among the carriers is far less today. In this last quarter, T-Mobile slightly edged out Verizon while Cingular's scores fell within the margin of error in matching those of Verizon. Yet scores for all three were down slightly from the previous quarter, which as in prior years, we attribute to the holiday crush of phone sales and new activations. One pleasant surprise is that Sprint improved from "D" grades to "C"s in both caller satisfaction and the ability of customers to complete their business with a single phone call; although Sprint scores still lag behind overall.
We saw a similar decline in service quality among the major banks this quarter as well, although assigning the holiday season as a cause is less clear. Washington Mutual has been a consistent leader in service quality with Bank of America bringing up the rear. And as can be imagined, quite a bit of dialog has taken place between VocaLabs and the tracked institutions questioning the results. When a survey issue that might impact scores has been suggested, we have refined the study parameters accordingly, yet the results have remained remarkably consistent; adding confidence in the reliability of SectorPulse data. Wachovia is one institution we are also watching closely and indications are that service quality is quite high, but customer responses have been slightly too small to issue formal Wachovia scores.
The supporting data behind these studies is available by subscription, and in several layers of detail. If interested, call or drop us a note.
Posted by Rick Rappe'
Yet all four have improved by statistically meaningful amounts and the performance gaps among the carriers is far less today. In this last quarter, T-Mobile slightly edged out Verizon while Cingular's scores fell within the margin of error in matching those of Verizon. Yet scores for all three were down slightly from the previous quarter, which as in prior years, we attribute to the holiday crush of phone sales and new activations. One pleasant surprise is that Sprint improved from "D" grades to "C"s in both caller satisfaction and the ability of customers to complete their business with a single phone call; although Sprint scores still lag behind overall.
We saw a similar decline in service quality among the major banks this quarter as well, although assigning the holiday season as a cause is less clear. Washington Mutual has been a consistent leader in service quality with Bank of America bringing up the rear. And as can be imagined, quite a bit of dialog has taken place between VocaLabs and the tracked institutions questioning the results. When a survey issue that might impact scores has been suggested, we have refined the study parameters accordingly, yet the results have remained remarkably consistent; adding confidence in the reliability of SectorPulse data. Wachovia is one institution we are also watching closely and indications are that service quality is quite high, but customer responses have been slightly too small to issue formal Wachovia scores.
The supporting data behind these studies is available by subscription, and in several layers of detail. If interested, call or drop us a note.
Posted by Rick Rappe'
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