Bank call centers scored higher than retail call centers in six out of seven service categories in a recent quality assurance study of banking industry’s call centers.
The study, conducted by O’Connor & Associates, Pittsford, NY, is based on 100 phone calls placed during a one-month period to each of the companies evaluated.
The largest gap was in the cross-selling capabilities, with banks outscoring retailers 21.6 percent to 14.7 percent. Banks also outscored retailers in customer reception (82.9 percent to 77.3 percent); customer rapport (76.3 percent to 69.6 percent); needs identification (68.4 percent to 64.7 percent); professionalism (95.5 percent to 94.1 percent); and closing (61.2 percent to 60.3 percent). The only area in which retailers scored higher was product knowledge, where retailers received a score of 88.7 percent compared to banks’ score of 87.5 percent.
The banks evaluated in the study were 17 of the largest in the country, including Chase Manhattan, Citibank, Wells Fargo, Bank America and others. The retailers studied were Dell Computer, Hertz Rent-A-Car, AT&T Universal Credit Card, 1-800-Flowers and Lands’ End.
