| By :
Martin Hofschroer
Companies must improve customer service and meet the demands of post-recession consumer behaviour. A report commissioned by Alcatel-Lucent Genesys and Datapoint revealed that the economic downturn has created a new breed of customers and it is the responsibility of businesses to evolve and meet these changes. The report by ContactBabel identified five different consumer personality types and found that all of the groups are less tolerant of mistakes and more comfortable about making complaints. Businesses in the UK have experienced an additional 140 million complaint calls since the start of the recession and this new group of consumers have been termed 'The Dissatisfied Customer'. Consumers who publishe their opinions on social networking sites have been coined 'The Vocal Customer' and this group is on the rise as research by Neilsen discovered that the amount of time spent on such sites is increasing rapidly. Consumers who are more technologically sophisticated and are likely express their opinion through avenues such as email, text chat, self-service and SMS have been labelled 'The Multichannel Customer'. A study by Alcatel-Lucent Genesys, in partnership with Datamonitor and Ovum, found that over 81 per cent of UK consumers have fitted into The Multichannel Customer model over the previous year. The Knowledgeable Customer is a type of consumer which does not rely on advertisements for product details and instead researches goods and services online in order to inform their purchase. Businesses should improve customer service in order to avoid negative feedback as a survey by BIA/Kelsey Group found that 97 per cent of consumers research products and future purchases online. Lucille Jackson, from Alcatel-Lucent, said that the businesses should improve customer service because consumer expectation has changed dramatically since the recession. "Those organisations that recognise this divide between customer demands and service capabilities - and work to bridge it - will see the benefits on their bottom lines," she claimed. Paul Brewer, from Datapoint, said companies which embrace technology in relation to customer service will experience the biggest benefits in the future. "The customer of the future will certainly be more demanding and potentially more difficult to serve successfully, so any action taken must offer distinct benefits to the customer as well as to the business if it is to work," he said. Homeowners want energy suppliers to improve customer service as only 58 per cent are satisfied with the levels they currently receive, according to the latest independent Customer Satisfaction Report published by uSwitch.com.
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