Satisfaction with wireless customer care experience differs between contract and non-contract users in the U.S.

 

Overall
customer service satisfaction is higher among wireless contract-based customers
than those who subscribe to prepaid or non-contract service plans, according to
J.D. Power and Associates.

 

Within each contact method, the study measures
satisfaction and processing issues, such as problem-resolution efficiency and
hold-time duration.

 

Among customers who sign a contract for wireless service,
overall customer care performance averages 761 on a 1,000-point scale 23 index
points higher than the average satisfaction among non-contract subscribers
(738).

 

One of the main factors contributing to this performance
disparity is service contacts that originate in the ARS channel that are
eventually transferred to a live service representative. Specifically,
non-contract customers report longer hold times than contract customers do when
waiting to speak to a service representative.

 

Among non-contact customers, reported hold time averages
more than one minute longer than among contract customers (5.5 vs. 4.4 minutes,
respectively).

 

It is not unexpected that hold times are shorter for
contract customers, since full-service providers generally have access to existing
account information that helps identify the customer immediately once contact
is made,” said Kirk Parsons, senior director of wireless services at J.D. Power and
Associates.

 

There is also a disparity between the contract and
non-contract segments in terms of the quality of the experience with the
service representative. In particular, non-contract customers are considerably
less satisfied than are contract customers in the areas of knowledge about
plans; personal concern for customers; and apathy towards customers.

 

Treating customers with respect by personalizing the
transaction should not differ among customers in each segment, regardless of
their tenure or the monetary value to the provider.

 

This personalization is even more critical among
customers in the non-contract segment, as the frequency of switching providers
is 2.5 times higher, compared with contract customers (21 percent vs. 8
percent).

 

Verizon Wireless ranks highest in wireless customer care
performance among full-service providers with an overall score of 770.

 

Verizon Wireless performs particularly well in phone
contacts that originate in the ARS channel and are then transferred to a live
service representative, and through phone calls made directly to a CSR.
T-Mobile follows in the overall rankings with a score of 766 and performs well
among customers who contact their carrier online or through the ARS-only
channel.

 

Boost Mobile ranks highest in overall customer care
satisfaction among non-contract service providers, with an overall score of
763. This overall score is comparable to the high-performing full-service
provider scores.

 

The company performs particularly well in phone contacts
that originate in the ARS channel and are then transferred to a live service
representative, and through phone calls made directly to a CSR.

 

Among full-service customers who contacted their carrier
to report a specific problem, 40 percent of calls were due to a phone
repair/malfunction issue, while 14 percent of customers reported problems with
an incorrect bill or network connection issues.

 

Conversely, among those who contacted their carrier with
a general question, 39 percent of calls pertained to inquiries about
product/services, 23 percent were for general billing issues and 11 percent
were for service coverage.

 

Wireless customers who indicate that they have had a
positive care experience are more loyal and are, therefore, less likely to
switch carriers in the future, on average. Among full-service customers who
indicate they “definitely will not switch” carriers in the next 12
months, customer care index scores average 834, compared with just 618 among
those who say they “definitely will switch” a difference of 216
points.

 

Despite owning phones with more complicated features,
satisfaction among wireless customers with smartphones is comparable with the
customer care experience of those with traditional mobile phones (757 vs. 756,
respectively).

 

However, smartphone owners, compared with traditional
phone owners, are significantly more likely to have contacted their carrier
with an issue during the past six months (48 percent vs. 35 percent,
respectively).

 

By Telecomlead.com Team

[email protected]