Verint®
Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: VRNT) today announced results from a consumer
insights survey conducted by Ipsos, a global market research
organization, on the state of customer service in the Asia Pacific
region. In the survey of more than 5,800 consumers across six
countries—including China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Australia and
Indonesia—consumers revealed that most have experienced poor customer
service, and surprisingly, have low expectations of receiving great
service.
Key findings paint a common picture of poor customer service, frustrated
consumers with low service expectations, an increased rate of sharing
positive or negative experiences online to a wider audience, and a
willingness to place a greater value on customer service than price.
Low Service Expectations Provide Opportunities to Delight the Customer
The Verint Consumer Insights study revealed that the percentage of
consumers that experience poor customer service is high across all
surveyed industries in Asia Pacific: financial services (51%), utilities
(51%), hotel and travel (51%), retail (59%) and telecoms (64%).
With survey results suggesting that consumer expectations of customer
service are low, companies that can improve their customer experiences
are well positioned in today’s market to gain significant business
advantage over the competition. Verint’s Impact
360® Workforce Optimization™ and Voice
of the Customer Analytics™ software can help by capturing
and sharing intelligence across the entire organization. This not only
allows a company to deliver a more consistent, customer-pleasing
experience, but also helps avoid over and understaffing and drive down
costs, identify trends, and use the “voice of the customer” to drive
strategic decisions on products, services processes, and more.
Customers Value Service Over Price
In addition, the study found that consumers in all countries—including
emerging markets where there is a common “price is king”
perception—place a premium on good customer service, with only 23% of
consumers valuing price over service. As shown by the survey, roughly
45% of consumers are willing to pay more for better service,
particularly in China and India.
Consumers Share More Frequently Online
The study also validates that consumers are using multiple
communications channels when sharing their good or bad service
experiences. While traditional channels—such as phone, in person and
email—are typically used to share with family and close friends, rising
social channels like Facebook, Twitter and blogs are reaching even wider
audiences. Reinforcing this, survey results revealed that 53% of
consumers will share their experiences on social media, blogs and leave
comments on company websites with 42% using social networking sites
(e.g., Facebook); 27% use micro-blog sites (e.g., Twitter); and 24% will
share experiences on blogs.
Further, more consumers expressed their desire to share positive rather
than negative experiences at a rate of 41% for positive experiences
compared to 32% for negative experiences. In effect, companies that can
deliver a superior customer experience have an army of customer
ambassadors positively increasing their brand awareness into the market
via social channels.
“The research points to an increasing propensity among consumers to
share positive feedback, experiences and interactions,” comments Ady
Meretz, president APAC, Verint. “Companies that can proactively deliver
a superior customer experience by listening and acting on the voice of
the customer can gain competitive advantage in the market. Verint’s
Voice of the Customer Analytics can help identify trends and capture
feedback across a variety of channels, helping them take a proactive and
responsive approach to customers’ wants, needs and expectations.”
Why the Poor Service Experience?
This research also identifies two main drivers of poor consumer service
experience: taking too long to resolve problems (21%) and
unknowledgeable staff that can't help (20%).
Additionally, consumers who didn’t have their problems resolved in the
first contact were less satisfied than those that spent more time with
service representatives working through issues without having to call
back or visit again. For instance, in the retail sector, the study found
that if customers had to call back to solve their problems, satisfaction
dropped another 10%.
Other factors leading to a poor service experience from the survey
included: waiting too long to be serviced, receiving rude or unfriendly
service and experiencing inflexible procedures.
For more information about the Asia Pacific Verint Consumer Insights
research results, visit our blog.
About the Research
The research was conducted online by Ipsos with 5,819 respondents aged
16 and over in six countries. The survey was carried out across a
nationally representative sample of consumers in China, India, Hong
Kong, Singapore, Japan, and Australia in July 2013. The survey data has
been weighted by age, gender and region to help ensure it represents a
national mix of respondents.
About Verint Enterprise Intelligence Solutions
Verint® Enterprise Intelligence Solutions™ help
organizations of all sizes capture and analyze customer interactions,
sentiments and trends across multiple channels, improve performance and
optimize the customer experience. The solution portfolio includes the
Impact 360® Workforce Optimization™ suite and
Voice of the Customer software, which serve as strategic enterprise
assets for increasing customer satisfaction and loyalty, enhancing
products and services, reducing operating costs and driving revenue.
About Verint Systems
Verint® (NASDAQ: VRNT) is a global leader in Actionable
Intelligence® solutions. Its portfolio of Enterprise
Intelligence Solutions™ and Security Intelligence Solutions™
helps organizations Make Big Data Actionable™ through the
ability to capture, analyze and act on large volumes of rich, complex
and often underused information sources—such as voice, video and
unstructured text. With Verint solutions and value-added services,
organizations of all sizes can make more timely and effective decisions.
Today, more than 10,000 organizations in over 150 countries, including
over 80 percent of the Fortune 100, count on Verint solutions to improve
enterprise performance and make the world a safer place. Headquartered
in NY, Verint has offices worldwide and an extensive global partner
network. Learn more 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 and uncertainties, 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, 2013 and our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for
the quarter ended April 30, 2013 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, the
Company assumes no obligation to update or revise them or to provide
reasons why actual results may differ.
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