ROCCO’S ANNUAL CUSTOMER SERVICE RESEARCH BEGINS

Friday 8th June 2018. London. ROCCO Research start’s its 3rd annual MNO Survey on Customer Service

This is an industry that is based on word of mouth. Well then if that is true, what is the words your customers use to describe you?

The last two years we conducted Research into Customer Service, we had hundreds of Mobile Operators tell us about their favourite vendors and announced the leaders in Customer Service for 2017. This year the investigation continues and any Telecoms vendor offering products or services to Mobile Network Operators is included.

MNOs can take a quick 5 minute survey and describe the customer service of any Roaming and Interconnect Vendor they want right here: Customer Service 2018

We live in a world of adrenaline and stimuli triggered by speed and efficiency – wasn’t it just yesterday when someone near you was complaining about being misunderstood, ignored, forced to wait an eternity for a small problem to be solved? And wasn’t everyone around them fervently nodding and agreeing that they had a significant advantage, merely for being a client? Indeed, in a world of impulsive consumerism, it is only natural for our expectations to be easily challenged in the face of bad service. This failure to feel satisfied propels us to quick judgment which we may regret and project negatively on the one receiving it.

But living such a dynamic existence has left us excommunicated, desensitized with a narrow perception locked solely on the final goal, the final product, the service that we demand, and all other details and complications that obstruct our activities are immediately seen as major annoyances.

This makes it very easy to pleasantly surprise your clients.

Bad customer service has become the norm from which stems the instant irritation, and this is exactly why great experiences are extremely valuable and the company is praised for its amazing reaction. Can you count the amount of horror stories you’ve heard? I am sure they are superior to the number of happy endings.

Problems always arise with any service or products, making the process of going through customer service a necessary evil – it is the only way for your clients to directly communicate with your company. Do you think you’re making a good impression? Are you 100% informed on what is happening in your customer service team? Is the feedback positive, neutral or negative; or do you find this segment of the business to be insignificant?

A quick stroll through the depths of the Internet tells us that customers are not blindly led only by the promises of a great product – they are sentient beings whose low expectations had been unfortunately fulfilled after just another argument with bad customer service. Those are the typical stories; the stories that don’t surprise anyone.

But it’s not the representative’s fault either – it’s all about flexibility and treating others the way you want to be treated. An unsatisfied employee who sees himself/herself limited to help would find it frustrating to deal with so many unresolved issues.

A few more scrolls and you fall upon a positive story which you inevitably put in perspective with your own experiences, and suddenly, you realise you wish it was your experience. We are quick, brusque, impatient beings but if we faced the possibility of choosing a positive or negative solution, we would immediately pick the positive. And so you go on and remember the company’s name, even look them up, and get your fill on more successful endings to disastrous situations.

This is how word-of-mouth works.

It is one of the most valuable sides of marketing, and do not be mistaken – your customer service team IS your marketing. It is highly likely that your cause would not be taken seriously if you do not take your customer service seriously.

Customer Service might not be the crux of your mission and vision, but it is the backbone of a healthy relationship with your clients – the clients who give you business. It’s a great way to make a good impression while restoring someone’s faith in humanity, building a solid foundation of loyalty and trust; also, how a company treats its customer service team can tell a lot about its values and priorities.

Positive encounters always produce positive associations which further reinforce a reliable word-of-mouth, and this is exactly what every company needs – natural and effortless promotion, based purely on good, long-lasting relationships that can be chiselled only through mutual respect and understanding.

Following the success of our Customer Service Report in 2016, and 2017 this June, ROCCO asks MNOs to rate their Vendors with 21 simple Customer Service KPIs, encompassing important criteria which revolve around three categories: Capability, Quality and Care. MNOs are asked via social media and our mailing list and given over 2 months to complete a confidential study to allow us to accurately represent their perceptions and experiences.