90 percent of Indian firms ignore customer service

By siliconindia   |   Monday, 26 October 2009, 22:40 IST   |    7 Comments
Printer Print Email Email
90 percent of Indian firms ignore customer service
Bangalore: While India has emerged as a top offshore destination in a recent survey, the 'onshore' scenario on customer service is just the reverse. A follow up survey commissioned by Genesys Telecommunication Laboratories confirms the fact that 90 percent of Indian firms are disconnected on the customer service as a strategic function of the organization. The first survey revealed that Indian firms lost over $2.46 billion each year due to poor customer service. The follow up survey, which strives to understand why C-level executives are ignoring the 'customer service' element of their business, reveals that there is a 'deep disconnect' in Indian firms and a mere 10 percent of C-level executives characterize their customer contact centers as a strategic function. However, about 92 percent of Indian C-level executives and customer care professionals believe that customer service impacts company's brand identity. The survey also reveals that only 56 percent of Indian companies try base decisions on customer lifetime value as compared to that of 73 percent for the European companies. Shamsheer Ahmed, MD, Genesys Telecommunication Laboratories India says, "The Indian corporate front has won global accolades for the quality of its offshoring operations. However, when it comes to serving 'onshore' customers, 90 percent of the C-level executives seem to be disconnected and that is a wake up call for all of us. We cannot afford to be laid back in serving customers as brand identity and loyalty in the future will be built around this strategic function." According to the survey, Customer Service in India is slightly more operational than other parts of the world, with 59.2 percent characterizing their contact centers as operational, compared to 57 percent globally. Though 92 percent of the customer care professionals and executives in India agree that customer service impacts the company's brand identity, only 10 percent of C-level executives and 15 percent of customer care professionals characterize their contact centers as largely strategic.