London, UK – Although the UK is one of the fastest growing and most competitive broadband markets in the world, an independent audit has uncovered that the majority of Internet Service Providers (ISPs) are failing to deliver a basic level of customer service. In a mystery shopper exercise, Talisma contacted 50 UK ISPs by email and phone. The results were alarming for an industry that specialises in online communication: almost 50% of emails were ignored; only 12% of ISPs could track emails once they had been received; and 84% did not give staff a unified view of customer interactions across multiple channels. 

Talisma’s audit also revealed the following worrying results:

• Only 6% of ISPs personalised telephone calls by addressing the caller by name
• Only 16% provide online chat facilities 
• 78% do not offer self-help/frequently answered questions on their website 

“Selecting a broadband ISP is similar to choosing an electricity or gas provider; customers are primarily concerned about the price rather than who provides the service. In this high-churn commodity market, good customer service is vital for ISPs to differentiate themselves and encourage customer loyalty. Response times are critical and delays in answering calls and emails impact customer satisfaction significantly. This challenge will only increase as channels such as SMS and live chat are demanded as a basic service from increasingly sophisticated customers,” said Jon McNerney, vice president international operations at Talisma. 

“The key is in providing a consistent customer experience across multiple channels, to support enhanced service efficiency, boost customer confidence, and improve retention efforts. However, only 16% of the ISPs audited have a unified view of customer interactions. Those companies that don’t support multiple communication channels and integrate their data to provide a complete customer service will struggle to compete,” concluded McNerney.

Methodology
The Talisma UK ISP audit was conducted amongst 50 leading UK ISPs in February 2007. The audit monitored key customer service best practices, including:

• Access to a full range of service channels: email, chat, phone, and Web self-service
• Response speed
• Accuracy and completeness of responses
• Personalisation
• Media blending, to provide a unified view of all customer interactions

Final audit scores were calculated based on point scoring across multiple service channels, which were weighted in the audit based on best practices and consumer adoption.

About Talisma Corporation:
nGenera Customer Interaction Management is the global leader in next generation customer experience solutions. Customers report increased customer satisfaction and measurable cost savings within six months of deployment. With 250% customer growth over three years, more companies trust their customer experiences to nGenera Customer Interaction Management. Customers include Canon, Dell, eBay, Epson, Ford, Microsoft, P&O, Scottrade, Sharp, Siemens, Sky Bet, Sony, and Sprint. For more information, visit www.ngenera.com/cim