Customer Satisfaction is a Moving Target

Nine out of ten respondents to an Accenture survey report having left atleast one service provider in the last year due to poor service.

Accenture recently released its fourth Customer Satisfaction survey with a special report on ‘Customer-centricity’ in India. It has some revealing findings about what Indian customers care about, about their loyalty to service providers, what they do when they have a problem… Here are some highlights:

90% of the respondents have left atleast one service provider due to poor service
Wow! 90% is a lot. Globally, the figure is 67%. The higher India figure is aided by greater choice and fewer entry-exit hurdles. 15 years back you had to wait for 3 months to get a telephone connection. Today, you can get 5 mobile connections in about 2 hours. This shift in power from the ’supply side’ to the ’demand side’ is something that a lot of companies (both private and government services) are yet to come to terms with.

Banks, Internet services and mobile operators were switched most commonly
This is very obvious. Services that have become ‘commodities’ are the ones that will have the least customer loyalty and will be the easiest to switch. With number portability on the cards, mobile operators will see and even greater outgo of customers swayed by marketing messages and promotions. Incidentally, these three services are also the ones where the margins and profitability are constantly under pressure. When a service doesn’t offer anything unique, it is impossible to be consistently profitable in a buyers market.

45% respondents switch service providers because of a better price, 71% because of poor experience
Yes, Indians are price-concious. But they aren’t pound foolish, penny-wise. Increasingly, if a customer is generally happy with a service, he is less likely to go price shopping or change services for a small price differential. People have less time which they want to spend with their families and doing things that interest them. But if you make their lives difficult, they’ll walk.

52% respondents believe their expectations are never or rarely met
Are the expectations too high or are the services just out of tune with customers really want. A little of both. Companies will at some point have to say ‘itne paise mein itnaich milega’. But before that, they needs to spend time understanding how customers use their services and create service models that address these needs. There is little focus on designing services and experience in India right now.

Talk to me!
85% customers call a helpline for assitance, 68% send an email, 47% visit a website and only 31% visit a physical location

While this survey is revealing, it must be taken with a pinch of salt. One, it is limited in size. The number of respondents is around 300. Two, most respondents are reffering to customer service, not ’service experience’. But, customer service comes into picture when there is a flaw in the service model. Three, this survey probably represents a very narrow class of Indian consumers. I don’t think it is really reflective of what a rural mobile customer thinks or how he acts.

Download the India Report here or go to the Accenture website to download the global report.