24 June 2003

Contact centres could be putting companies' brands at risk, warns Peter Holland, Head of Customer Operations at Detica, the independent IT services company. Pushed towards self-service technologies (such as interactive voice response and the Web) by organisations looking to cut costs, many customers feel uncomfortable and are forming negative rather than positive perceptions of the brand.

Market research conducted by Detica, across a sample of 2,000 people (UK population representative) showed that:

- Almost 75% felt that companies typically introduce self-service capabilities to help themselves, rather than to help the consumer

- Almost 70% feel that self-service systems, such as Interactive Voice Response (IVR), have made the process of contacting companies more difficult

Holland emphasises the need to provide choice in communications: "Each contact with a customer is an opportunity to confirm and reinforce the brand's proposition and values. If the company does not meet a consumer's contact needs, then brand equity can be undermined and rejection can quickly follow".

Companies limiting contact choices by providing too much self-service technology, or too little live interaction, can alienate customers, particularly those slower in adopting new technologies or who resent change. Any attempt to force an increase in consumer self-service adoption is futile and potentially damaging to the brand.

Holland identifies another option for contact centres to cut costs and enhance brand experience: "Poor alignment and execution of customer communications across a brand's customer operations is a fundamental cause of customers contacting the centre. Diagnosing why customers want to contact the brand and then eliminating the avoidable root causes that drive this need, will cut costs and improve customer perceptions. This is a healthier option, as it cuts costs and enables the brand to go with the flow of customer self-service adoption. Early adopters have the option of trying new channels and less confident customers have a reliable contact centre with which they are comfortable dealing. Taking this approach will go a long way towards countering the large number of consumers who currently feel disempowered by limitations in everyday contact with brands."

Nick Miles Text 100 Public Relations Tel: +44 (0)208 846 0700 email: