Google

The Internet and Customer Care: Aid or Anarchy?


It was reported in 'Marketing' magazine this month, that Britain is becoming a "disaffected nation", with each adult apparently making an average of 12 complaints to service providers each year, based on a "Service in Britain" survey by ASR (Andrew Smith Research). In response to the rise of the 'assertive consumer', brands are endeavouring to make sure 'good customer service' is a recognisable characteristic in the form of testimonials, efficient call centre responses and empowering staff throughout the company to resolve problems. Most complaints were about power, utility or postal services at 42%, followed by supermarkets, telephone providers, TV or ISP providers and banks. Insurance companies were also in the top 10 with 21% of the articulate disaffected nation.

Which? Magazine (http://www.which.co.uk/ ) has been campaigning for consumers' rights since 1957, though with the advent of the World Wide Web, other companies have also been capitalising on consumer frustration. Since the late 1990s, a new breed of consumer champion websites has emerged, including uSwitch, moneynet ( http://www.moneynet.co.uk/ ), moneyfacts (http://www.moneyfacts.co.uk/ ) and the motley fool. These websites offer free subscriptions to financial product information, providing comprehensive and impartial cost comparisons. Consumers can search on a variety of criteria, so they always get the best quote for their particular circumstances. In addition to an increased uptake in using search engines to research products and companies, consumers are increasingly utilising these comparison websites to ensure they get the best deal. Websites such as Kelkoo ( http://www.kelkoo.co.uk/ ) and Ciao ( http://www.ciao.co.uk/ ) also provide the consumer with tools to make a wise purchase decision, incorporating reviews from registered users to encourage trust in the site. Amazon and eBay ( http://www.ebay.co.uk/ ) are now household names because they have established online communities of trust and their loyal supporters bring new customers.

The disaffected nation is becoming an increasingly IT literate force, with its soldiers equipped with e-mail addresses, online bank accounts and familiarity with a range of online retailers. As broadband penetration increases and websites offer an increasingly sophisticated range of services, companies will be less worried about bit rates and more concerned about bite rates as word-of-mouth whips its way through e-mails.

Whilst certain companies may still be slow to react to customer concerns, market monopolies are gradually being disbanded as consumers embrace new ways of shopping.

Further information: http://www.andrewsmithresearch.co.uk/

Richard works hard for a media company in Edinburgh, as well as occasionally ranting for the personal finance blog http://cashzilla.blogspot.com/. Richard's favourite drink is Guinness.

MORE RESOURCES:

RELATED ARTICLES

Accepting Credit Card Payments Online 
Being able to accept credit cards and other online payments is crucial to the success of your business and profits. Your customers are more likely to buy from you if you offer them a secure and convenient way to order goods and services online at your site.
Say Something Worth Talking About
I recently published a short e-book called 'One Thing I Know About Doing Business Online'. Seventeen people contributed - including Seth Godin, Jeffrey Zelman, Danny Sullivan, Jared Spool, Gerry McGovern and Ann Handley.
Intranet Project - RAD or Waterfall?
Building BridgesI have often used the analogy of building a bridge to explain to business colleagues the difference between Rapid Application Development (RAD) and Waterfall.Let's say that we are in the middle ages and the Mayor of Kingston-upon-Thames is evaluating whether or not to build a bridge over the river to the north side, to replace the current ferry.
Choosing An Internet Merchant Account
Surf to Google and perform a search on "Internet Merchant Account". The results are staggering (472,000 results!) If you have created a web based business and need to accept credit card payments, your choices are limitless.
Business Online - Blind Hunt
Do you sell something online? Do you have a business in the Internet? Have you read the "How to generate more traffic and convert it to sales" articles? Have you played the "Be #1 in SEO" game?Now, you are ready to believe - nobody knows how to do it absolutely right.Nobody can know everything.
Intranet Portals - Search and Taxonomies
Knowledge Management for beginnersKnowledge Management (KM) can be defined simply as the process through which organizations generate value from their intellectual and knowledge-based assets. Knowledge assets are often grouped into two categories:(1) Explicit Knowledge Generally, everything and anything that can be documented, archived and codified.
How to Receive Payments for Your Online Sales
Once you decide which products you are planning to sell on the Internet, and what type of web store you are going to use in order to display your products, next vital decision that you have to take is to figure out how your customers are going to pay you. Whatever you plan to sell online, accepting credit card transaction is a must! A full 90 percent of all online sales occur through credit card payments.
Looking For Free Advertising, Here It Is!
There are lots of ways to advertise for free but they are time consuming so I guess technically, they are not free because your time is worth something! But if you have the time and not the money this is for you.I posed the question of "free advertising" to a few forums and they all can back the same, but with new links to check out.
Increasing E-commerce Website Sales
With consumers purchasing billions of dollars of merchandise online each and every year, the Internet has become the key to financial security. The e-commerce business has consistently thrived well above all other online enterprises, and continues to flourish.
Intranet Project Names - Some Ideas
"What's in a name? That which we call a rose By any other word would smell as sweet."In this famous quote from Act II of Romeo and Juliet, Juliet tells Romeo that a name is an artificial and meaningless convention, and the fact he is a Montague and she a Capulet (warring families) means nothing to their love.
E-Gold
E-gold is a digital currency, used extensively on the Internet for making payments in exchange for goods and services.It is one of the first digital e-currency providers, having started in 1996.
Select a Niche Market for Ecommerce
Choosing a carefully pinpointed niche market should be one of the first steps that an internet business owner has to take. A very common way of describing a niche market is 'a targeted group of individuals with very specific and similar needs or interests.
Tell Site Visitors What To Do
Your site visitors make all the choices when it comes to browsing the Web.No other medium gives users, readers or customers such control over their own experience.
Do Your Online Brokerage Business With Zero Down
If you have little or no capital but you want to do big international business; if your small business is not doing so well; or your capital is low, why don't you turn to the Internet? The Internet is the fastest and most efficient method for the newcomer and the struggling businessperson to become an international broker of goods and services.To start, you may order directories of importers; but they are not absolutely necessary: importers can be found on the business portals too.
Credit Card Merchant Account Basics
Knowing which credit card merchant account to get can be very confusing. There are thousands and thousands of banks, merchant account providers and third party sales teams that can offer you all kinds of incentives.
Complementary-Relational Linking and How It Could Save Your Internet Business
The concept of linking is that sites with common interests should link to drive more traffic to each other's businesses and to increase their "popularity." Search engines, such as Google, give much higher ranking to sites with high popularity.
Google Catalogs - Old Gashioned Mail Order Meets High Tech Search
In addition to Google's Froogle shopping service (still in beta), which features a searchable database of online merchants, Google is also beta-testing their Google Catalog service. Google Catalogs provides a searchable central repository of hundreds of mail-order catalogs.
Do You Need A Merchant Account?
Deciding when to get your own merchant account for internet sales can be a confusing and expensive venture. If you have a small to medium sized business and only sell a small amount of products then having your own merchant account may not be the answer for you.
Short Story: The Benefits of Shopping Online
Maria's new lifestyle: Short story about the benefits shopping on the Net has given to a dedicated artist.I've got this strange friend; her name is Maria.
Ecommerce Solution for the Big and Small Business
First off, you need to know what an ecommerce solution is. An ecommerce solution can be defined in many ways.