Amdocs Survey: Improved Proactive Care, Mobile Self-Service Tools Can Increase Service Provider Net Promoter Scores

ST. LOUIS, Feb. 5, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Amdocs, the leading provider of customer experience systems and services, today announced the findings of a global consumer survey that explores the link between proactive care tools, customer satisfaction and call center traffic. 

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The survey revealed that the vast majority of customers would recommend their service provider to family and friends if they received relevant, proactive notifications from their provider and had simple self-service apps on their mobile device. Conducted by leading analyst firm Coleman Parkes, the survey found that in addition to helping to increase customer satisfaction, the measures could also decrease call center traffic.

"The Net Promoter Score, or NPS, is the industry-standard measure of customer willingness to recommend, and is directly correlated to customer satisfaction, retention and service provider profitability," said Ian Parkes, Director and Co-Founder at Coleman Parkes. "The survey shows that the provision of proactive care and self-service apps would be a highly effective strategy for helping service providers to increase their NPS and reduce the burden on the call center.  But, according to our study, consumers feel that service providers need to improve the online experience with a more consistent and personal service."

Key survey findings include:

• Proactive services and self-care can improve NPS: 84 percent of consumers said they would be more likely to recommend their service provider if the provider was able to identify and pre-emptively resolve potential issues affecting them; 83 percent said they would be more likely to recommend their provider if they were offered easy-to-use and consistent self-service via their mobile device
• Consumers willing to embrace proactive care and self-service: 83 percent said they would follow proactive notification instructions, rather than call the contact center, to resolve issues affecting them individually; 76 percent would use a mobile app rather than call the contact center
• Current proactive notifications and self-service tools ineffective and can increase call center traffic: 73 percent of consumers said proactive notifications at present were not useful; and 24 percent of all notifications resulted in a call to the contact center, adding to costs instead of reducing them. Of the consumers who use mobile self-service apps, 78 percent said they are hard to use
• Lack of consistency, personalization in consumer interactions with service provider: 65 percent of consumers said their service provider does not know them and fails to provide a personalized service during interactions; only 17 percent said they receive a consistent response across channels from their service provider
• Poor experience holds consumers back from mobile shopping: 72 percent of consumers have attempted to purchase a product or service online but 51 percent abandoned the purchase as it was too complicated; 79 percent said they would be more likely to complete an online purchase if they could switch between channels to continue transactions

"As smart devices proliferate, bringing increased demands on customer support, service providers face a growing challenge to maintain a high NPS," said Rebecca Prudhomme, Amdocs vice president of product and solutions marketing. "Proactive care and self-service strategies, such as those supported in our new Amdocs CES 9 portfolio, not only help to increase NPS but can substantially reduce call-center traffic, deflecting more than 40 percent of calls to lower-cost alternatives."

The research is based on 4,000 interviews with smartphone owners, both prepaid and postpaid customers, in North and Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia-Pacific region. The survey was conducted between November and December 2012.

Supporting Resources

• Learn more about Amdocs CES 9
• Keep up with Amdocs news by visiting the company's website
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About Amdocs
For more than 30 years, Amdocs has ensured service providers' success and embraced their biggest challenges. To win in the connected world, service providers rely on Amdocs to simplify the customer experience, harness the data explosion, stay ahead with new services and improve operational efficiency. The global company uniquely combines a market-leading BSS, OSS and network control product portfolio with value-driven professional services and managed services operations. With revenue of $3.2 billion in fiscal 2012, Amdocs and its 20,000 employees serve customers in more than 60 countries.

Amdocs: Embrace Challenge, Experience Success.

For more information, visit Amdocs at www.amdocs.com.

Amdocs' Forward-Looking Statement
This press release includes information that constitutes forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provision of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements about Amdocs' growth and business results in future quarters. Although we believe the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable assumptions, we can give no assurance that our expectations will be obtained or that any deviations will not be material. Such statements involve risks and uncertainties that may cause future results to differ from those anticipated. These risks include, but are not limited to, the effects of general economic conditions, Amdocs' ability to grow in the business markets that it serves, Amdocs' ability to successfully integrate acquired businesses, adverse effects of market competition, rapid technological shifts that may render the Company's products and services obsolete, potential loss of a major customer, our ability to develop long-term relationships with our customers, and risks associated with operating businesses in the international market. Amdocs may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the future; however, the Company specifically disclaims any obligation to do so. These and other risks are discussed at greater length in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including in our Annual Report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2012 filed on December 11, 2012.

SOURCE Amdocs