European operators could save £426m a year through improved online self care

A third of mobile subscribers only ever call their mobile operator because they failed to solve a problem through its self-care portal, according to research published this week. As a result operators across Europe are spending an estimated €510m (£426m) per year in unnecessary support costs.

The findings come from customer care services provider WDS, a subsidiary of Xerox. It found that 32 per cent of customers calling their operator were only doing so because they had been unable to find an online resolution to their problem either due to inaccurate, incomplete, hard-to-find or non-existent information.

This represents a waste of resources for operators, since the average cost of resolving a customer issue online is just a fraction of handling a telephone call to a call centre, the firm said.

“Operators’ self-care websites are often managed independently of the contact centre,” explained Tim Deluca-Smith, VP of marketing at WDS.

“This means they have very little exposure to the real support issues customers are facing and are typically only able to resolve 40 per cent of problems effectively. Customers who then go on to call their operator add over half a billion euros in support costs. This is a cost that’s entirely preventable. Online self-care is designed to reduce support costs, not add to them.”

The firm found that the most effective self-care sites had the potential to deflect as much as 50 per cent of an operator’s support traffic away from more expensive contact centre channels.

You can now register for the free Telecoms.com webinar in association with WDS outlining a seven-step approach to effective call avoidance on December 10, at 3.00pm GMT.

The Broadband World Forum is taking place on the 21st – 23rd October 2014 at the RAI Exhibition and Convention Centre, Amsterdam. Click here to download a brochure for the event.