eGain used a "mystery shopping" approach to evaluate customer service performance. Posing as prospective buyers of high-value products and services, eGain researchers contacted leading communications providers through email, showing an obvious intent to buy, and also evaluated the self-service capabilities offered by these businesses. The objectives were to assess the responsiveness and quality of email customer service, the range of web self-service options offered, and the ability to easily escalate to agent-assisted service. The North America research also included other aspects of customer service including interaction channels offered, and multichannel and multi-agent service consistency.

The following key statistics emerged from the study:

• North America findings:
  • 20% of the companies simply ignored customer emails
  • 45% of the companies failed to respond within 24 hours, a prevalent turnaround expectation for email customer service today
  • 45% of the responses were "poor" or "below average" in quality
  • 55% scored "above average" or "exceptional" in web self-service but 45% received "poor" or "below average", showing a dichotomy among the best and worst performers
• North America-UK comparison:
  • The UK trailed North America significantly in both email customer service and web self-service
  • 73% of the UK sample simply ignored customer emails compared to only 20% in North America
  • Only 19% of UK companies received an "above average" or "exceptional" rating in email quality, compared to 55% in North America
  • Only 15% of the UK sample responded to emails within 24 hours compared to 55% in North America
  • Only 42% of the UK sample scored "above average" or "exceptional" in web self-service, compared to 55% in North America

"Service providers of all types — cablecos, telcos, satellite companies, and mobile carriers — face a mounting dilemma: The number of services that they offer is on the rise, resulting in increasingly complex and disparate customer service needs. At the same time, they want to trim service and support costs by encouraging customers to use Web self-service tools. Above all else, providers must optimize the service and support experience for their customers or risk losing subscribers to the competition," write Sally M. Cohen and Chris Townsend, analysts at Forrester Research, in the research report "The State of Service Provider Customer Service", dated March 31, 2008.

"Because of high subscriber churn and relentless product and service commoditization in the communications sector, email customer service and web self-service are key requirements to providing cost-effective customer service in today’s volatile economic climate," said Ashu Roy, Chairman and CEO of eGain. "It is crucial that service providers invest in robust customer service management solutions that will not only help cut costs but also improve online customer service and unify the customer service experience across all contact center channels."