Enterprise Nation

Research out from communications company, Avaya, says that European businesses clamour for ‘always-on’ customer service with nine in ten decision makers wanting suppliers and partners to always be available. This bodes well for tech-savvy home businesses.

According to the research

Ninety-one percent of Europe’s senior business managers say they are more likely to choose a supplier that makes its customer service function available 24/7. In fact, over 89 percent of respondents said they would be willing to pay premium prices for “always-on” access.

Despite these findings, only 17 percent of European firms currently offer a round-the-clock customer service.

Let’s look at the forms of communication respondents said they prefer:

• Seventy percent find they get the best service using the telephone to speak to suppliers
• emailing suppliers was considered next most likely to result in top level service (59 percent), closely followed by face-to-face contact (56 percent); and 
• faxing and formal letters were deemed least likely to get a result (at 18 and 10 percent, respectively)

Could this be your competitive advantage?

Using the technology (that you’re most likely to already have) to be on hand for customers, whenever they want to talk. If you offer this service, you’ll pick up new work and have customers who’ll never want to leave your side!

• Research source: Avaya communications