Comcast cares? Companies clueless about customer dissatisfaction (study)

Businesses generally think they care well for their customers, according to a new report. Customers, unsurprisingly, disagree.

Violently.

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While 73 percent of busineseses think they’re doing a good job of communicating to customers via SMS, email, phone calls, and other means of communication, only 36 percent of their customers agree. That’s a “care gap” of 37 percentage points that mBlox feels companies can close with better mobile communication.

“The disciplines of customer service, marketing, and information technology are converging, and a more holistic concept of the customer experience has emerged,” Mblox CEO Tom Cotney said in a statement. “A company’s ability to demonstrate care in a way that resonates with its customers is essential to creating positive brand experiences, establishing healthy relationships, and achieving long-term success.”

According to the study of 1,650 consumers, 85 percent of consumers want companies to communicate with them via SMS, but only 58 percent of companies do so.

mBlox, of course, offers mobile communication services to businesses, and sponsored the study, but this makes sense.

When you check in at the airport and Delta asks for your mobile number so the airline can text you if there are delays or issues, you typically give it. It’s helpful, useful, and non-intrusive. — as long as the company fulfills the unspoken contract and does not use your mobile number for additional marketing later on.

Building out that kind of service, mBlox says, will drive recurring revenue as well as create operational efficiencies. It can’t hurt customers service, either.

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Predictably, telecom businesses ranked lowest on the “care scale,” followed closely by insurance and finance companies. Healthcare ranked highest, but no business category crossed the 50 percent customer care threshhold.

That’s surprising.

“If businesses want to delight their customers and achieve top performance scores, they should start with their own misperceptions about customer satisfaction,” the study concludes.

I wonder if they surveyed any Comcast subscribers.

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