Survey Says—Service By Phone Reigns Supreme (NAPSA)—Whileit’s no secret that consumers are always on the lookout for the best value and lowerprice, there is another factor that wins their loyalty and secures their business—quality customer service. In fact, a recent survey found that consumers have distinct preferences, opinions and expectations when it comes to customerservice. Among the survey’s top findings is how consumers feel about the length of time spent waiting for a CustomerService by Industry Banksand financial services routinely provide the best customer service—40 percent of consumers were “extremely satisfied” by the overall telephone customerservice provided by thesesectors. e 29 percent of consumers were “extremely satisfied” with cell phone companies. 28 percent of consumers were “extremely satisfied” with cable/satellite TV companies. 2 selves getting “ticked” about hav- call or connecting with a live person in less than a minute. Additionally, 18- to 34-year-old respondents were the most demanding vey revealed that most consumers, 65 percent, consider a wait time “reasonable” as long as it’s less Making Contact Whenit comesto their feelings customer service representative. Asthe clock ticks, we mayfind ouring to wait. The Discover Card sur- than two minutes. Nearly half, or 48 percent, find wait times longer age group across half of the categories that were surveyed. about contacting customer service than two minutes unreasonable, in general, consumers tend to be polarized. Over half, or 56 per- three minutes, 80 percent find it ing customerservice at all or very and when wait times are over unreasonable. Only 26 percent of respondents to the surveyrecall connecting with a representative in less than 60 seconds. Though we are a “wired”society, consumers overwhelmingly (73 percent) prefer a little human element; i.e., contacting customer service over the phone. Only 16 percent prefer to use e-mail, 9 percent prefer using online forms and 2 percent prefer online instant messaging. Age and Gender Matter Women expect more from the quality of customer service they receive than men, evidenced by a higher percentage of women defining customer service attributes as “extremely important” across all 16 categories evaluated, such as being able to resolve issues in one phone cent, said they don’t mind contact- much; however, over a quarter said they don’t like it atall. Discover Card’s customerser- vice support has been designed to put Cardmembersfirst, anticipat- ing and caring for their needs by providing top-notch customerservice anytime, day or night. The company’s customer service representatives boast the longest tenure in the industry and are measured on their ability to effectively resolve customer needs. Nearly every inquiry to the Cardmemberservice team, which handles some 80 million calls every year, is resolved in a single phone call. Additionally, Cardmembers are guaranteed to speak with a live representative in less than a minute. For more information, visit www.discovercard.com.
