IS 'SUPPORT' BETTER ON UK ONLINE GAMBLING SITES?

11 January 2008

Talisma study shows a "significant improvement" in customer service levels


Player complaints about discourteous or inefficient Support service on Internet gambling websites often paint a dismal picture of low levels of customer relationship management, but a new study indicates that in general service has improved, at least in the United Kingdom.

The British independent research company Talisma has concluded a study of 100 UK online gambling websites and reports a significant improvement in the customer service provided to UK online punters by companies keen to capture their share of the UK market.

The motivation is a sector which is predicted to grow by 30 percent and reach spending levels of GBP 1.6 billion by 2012, the study finds. By embracing technologies such as online chat, and improving the accuracy and speed of responses, the websites monitored in the research program have increased their average score from 54 percent in 2006 to 61 percent in 2007, outperforming other UK market sectors including online retailers (51 percent) and broadband providers (54 percent).

Readers wishing to study the report in detail can download it from www.talisma.com/onlinegambling.

Researchers assessed each website against a range of customer service criteria, and each website was awarded a score out of 100.

The audit revealed that UK gambling websites have improved customer service levels in three main areas, compared to 2006:

* Responsiveness - the percentage of emails responded to has increased from 60 percent in 2006 to 74 percent in 2007, with the number of telephone calls answered within 10 seconds increasing from 84 percent to 90 percent

* New interactive channels - 42 percent of companies now offer online chat, up by 12 percent from 30 percent. And in 2006 only 70 percent of requests for an online internet chat session properly acknowledged whilst in 2007 all sessions received timely attention by agents

* Players will undoubtedly argue on this one: Accuracy of information - an impressive 100 percent of all chat sessions and emails, and 98 percent of all telephone calls, that were answered provided accurate and complete information

The results were not all positive, however as the 2007 audit revealed that UK gambling websites are failing in certain areas of customer service and there is significant room for improvement.

Only 8 percent of the phone calls answered were personalised compared to 33 percent of the chats and 78 percent of the emails. Few websites demonstrated effective blending of communication channels, with only 23 percent of telephone agents and 19 percent of chat agents able to track previous emails sent to the company by a customer.

And surprisingly up to 92 percent of the websites audited did not provide a knowledge base to enable users to easily search and access information online for themselves, thus easing pressure on customer service centres and making access to information more available to the client.

"While it is encouraging that the UK online gambling sector has significantly improved customer service in 2007 there is still huge scope for improvement," said Jon McNerney, vice president international operations at Talisma.

"In a growing, competitive market, customer acquisition and retention is key. UK gambling websites have a global customer base that wants easy access to information and immediate responses to enquiries, particularly when their money is quite literally at stake. Gambling websites need to evolve a customer-focused strategy that provides high quality, round the clock support and empowers agents to manage an increasing number of interactions across a growing number of communication channels."

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