A new study, by Cellebrite and Ovum, found that within the last year, 7 in 10 consumers have experienced an issue or malfunction with their smartphone. Furthermore, 12% of those who looked to their mobile operator for help, would not return to that operator to purchase their next device based on their customer service experience.
Also of concern for operators, software-related problems—which are outside operators’ control—have increased from 10 percent to 40 percent of the proportion of total faults. No Trouble Found (NTF) claims this, which fails to identify the actual problem, accounts for typically 1/3 of all handsets that are sent for repair, at a cost to operators that in some cases reaches $300 per unit.
“The findings from this study reveal the extent of the challenge facing mobile operators: a sizable percentage of consumers are growing frustrated with their mobile service providers after experiencing problems that are completely outside of the operators’ control,” said Angel Dobardziev and Michael Philpott, co-authors of the report.
“While hardware and operating system faults have stabilised, software-related or ‘soft’ faults, caused by such issues as malware-laden and faulty applications, have increased four-fold, leading to increased customer service costs and affecting customer satisfaction.”
The study’s findings highlight the importance of an integrated, multichannel approach that addresses “soft” issues quickly and closer to the customer.
“For the average consumer, the smartphone has become an indispensable device for work and play, but with that higher degree of capability comes added complexity and frustration when it fails,” said Amir Lehr, Executive Vice President of Products and Business Development at Cellebrite.
“The Ovum study validates the true business impact of smartphone faults—customer dissatisfaction, added costs, and increased churn—and highlights the need for more advanced, easier-to-use applications that can identify smartphone issues and allow the user to resolve them at the click of a button.
“Nearly 80 percent of consumers said they would most likely use self-diagnostic tools as a first step to issue resolution. Operators can dramatically improve the customer care experience and reduce their own cost with a multi-channel approach that puts easy-to-use self-service tools in customers’ hands and equips operators’ own service personnel with solutions that turn even novices into expert technicians.”
By Claire West.
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