J.D. Power and Associates Reports: Particularly High Levels of Satisfaction among Small/Midsize Businesses Are Largely Due to Cost Advantages from Service Plan Promotions and Discounts

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif., May 20 /PRNewswire/ -- Small/midsize business customers are more satisfied overall with their wireless services, compared with home-based business customers, primarily due to cost differences, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2010 U.S. Business Wireless Satisfaction Study(SM) released today.

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Now in its sixth year, the study measures the overall satisfaction of home-based business customers (companies with between one and five employees, and based in a residence) and small/midsize business customers (companies with between two and 499 employees) with their wireless voice and data services across six key factors. In order of importance, they are: performance and reliability (23%); sales representatives/account executives (21%); billing (17%); cost of service (14%); offerings and promotions (13%); and customer service (11%).

Satisfaction among small/midsize business customers averages 682 on a 1,000-point scale, compared with 667 among customers in the home-based business customer segment. The gap in overall satisfaction between the two business segments is mainly driven by the cost of service and offerings and promotions factors, where the satisfaction performance gap is nearly twice as high as that for overall satisfaction (32 points and 27 points, vs. 15 points).

"Clearly, the revenue potential among larger businesses dictates that wireless service providers are more aggressive in offering pricing discounts through sales promotions, such as volume-tiered pricing based on the number of employees participating," said Kirk Parsons, senior director of wireless services for J.D. Power and Associates. "This could also include offering bundled products and services as a way to promote cost savings, given that from both revenue and customer loyalty perspectives, providers offering multiple services to meet client communication needs can almost immediately experience a positive financial impact."

Another factor that influences satisfaction performance is having a single point of contact for sales and service issues. Small/midsize businesses are more likely to have a dedicated sales representative to deal with sales and customer service issues, which tends to lead to higher levels of overall customer satisfaction. On average, 47 percent of the small/midsize enterprises have a dedicated single point of contact, compared with only 21 percent of home-based businesses.

"Having a single point of contact for sales and service allows a business to quickly resolve issues, which undoubtedly leads to a more positive customer experience, and therefore, higher satisfaction," said Parsons. "Smaller businesses that don't have a dedicated sales representative may have to spend more time finding the right person help resolve their issues, which, understandably, can be frustrating."

In the home-based business segment, T-Mobile ranks highest in overall customer satisfaction and performs particularly well in five of six factors: sales representatives/account executives; billing; cost of service; offerings/promotions; and customer service. Verizon Wireless follows T-Mobile in the home-based business segment, performing well in performance and reliability; sales representatives/account executives; offerings and promotions; and customer service. Alltel also ranks above the segment average and performs well in the performance and reliability and cost of service factors.

Within the small/midsize business segment, Verizon Wireless ranks highest and performs particularly well in two factors: performance and reliability and offerings and promotions. T-Mobile follows closely behind Verizon Wireless, performing particularly well in four factors: billing; cost of service; sales representatives/account executives; and customer service.

"Both T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless have differentiated themselves from the competition specifically by exceeding customer expectations in key service areas such as efficient customer service processes and strong network performance and reliability," said Parsons. "Particularly among small and midsize businesses, customer service and network-related issues such as call quality and performance reliability are important elements that impact the daily decision-making process. Both T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless appear to be meeting these needs in an effective manner."

The study also finds the following key business wireless usage patterns:

• The average monthly cost for wireless voice and data services among home office customers is $140—a decrease of more than $30 per month, compared with 2009. Small/midsize companies experienced an even bigger drop, as the average amount spent fell $190 compared with 2009 ($930 vs. $1,120 per month).
• Overall, 41 percent of business decision-makers report currently subscribing to mobile broadband service. The incidence is higher among small/midsize businesses, compared with home-based businesses (47% vs. 38%, respectively).
• Forty-nine percent of business wireless customers say they contacted a customer service representative with a question or problem within the past six months. Among these customers, 21 percent report contacting their provider due to changes in service plans, while 13 percent say they had issues with phone equipment malfunctions or needed replacements.

The 2010 U.S. Business Wireless Satisfaction Study is based on responses from wireless service decision-makers at more than 3,247 U.S. businesses. The study was fielded between September and November 2009 and January and March 2010. For more information on customer satisfaction with wireless service, wireless retail sales, cell phone handsets, customer care, prepaid wireless service and business wireless service, please visit JDPower.com.

Power Circle Ratings Legend:

5 – Among the best

4 – Better than most

3 – About average

2 – The rest

About J.D. Power and Associates

Headquartered in Westlake Village, Calif., J.D. Power and Associates is a global marketing information services company operating in key business sectors including market research, forecasting, performance improvement, Web intelligence and customer satisfaction. The company's quality and satisfaction measurements are based on responses from millions of consumers annually. For more information on car reviews and ratings, car insurance, health insurance, cell phone ratings, and more, please visit JDPower.com. J.D. Power and Associates is a business unit of The McGraw-Hill Companies.

About The McGraw-Hill Companies

Founded in 1888, The McGraw-Hill Companies (NYSE: MHP) is a global information and education company providing knowledge, insights and analysis in the financial, education and business information sectors through leading brands including Standard & Poor's, McGraw-Hill Education, Platts, and J.D. Power and Associates. The Corporation has more than 280 offices in 40 countries. Sales in 2009 were $5.95 billion. Additional information is available at http://www.mcgraw-hill.com/.  

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SOURCE J.D. Power and Associates