Consumers typically don’t have an emotional connection to telecom companies. They are universally regarded as the same with little differentiation in service, quality or price. Providing a positive customer experience is a fruitful area for telecoms to differentiate and drive customer retention.

With email remaining the preferred digital channel for telecom customer service, our study revealed that companies have a long way to go. Only 53% of companies had an easily accessible email address and of these companies, 65% completely ignored customer emails.

In a follow up to our inaugural groundbreaking Telecom Customer Service Benchmark Report, this telecom edition analyzes the availability, responsiveness, quality and effectiveness of email support from the world’s largest 1,000 telecom companies.

Here are a few highlights of the customer service research that all CX leaders in the telecom industry needs to know:

• The average score for the Support Performance Index (SPI), which measures personalization, empathy, answer quality and responsiveness, is 49.1, with 60% scoring within the 25-50 point range out of 100 total points.
• Out of companies that replied to emails, 46% responded in less than 6 hours. However, when it comes to answer quality, the companies that respond in 6-12 hours are 2X more likely to provide a more meaningful and complete response.
• Even when telecommunications respond, 55% provide a poor quality response as compared to only 19% that provided exceptional responses and achieved an Answer Quality Index of 100, the perfect score.
• Telecom companies in the Asia-Pacific region outperformed the companies in other regions with an average SPI of 58.9. North American companies came in second, but were 10 points behind APAC.
• Telecom companies that used Zendesk were 1.3X faster than average to respond.

To reduce churn, telecoms need to prioritize the customer experience. To turn customer service into a business driver, understand the current state of email support for the telecom industry and areas ripe for transformation.

Download your copy of the Customer Service Benchmark Report: Telecom today!