Is customer love for sale? Cost-cutter is going to find out.
It’s not even a done deal yet but David Teoh, the founder and CEO of the Australian Internet service provider TPG, has stated that if TPG’s takeover of iiNet is successful it will not destroy iiNet’s customer-centric model.
iiNet is known for being a premium customer focused brand with an industry leading NPS of 62. While TPG’s reputation of being far from customer-centric and cutting costs wherever possible has left TPG afraid that it will close call centers and move subscribers to its own infrastructure.
However, Mr Teoh has stated that spending $1.4bn buying iiNet, only to rip down the systems and staff that made it as successful as it is, would not make financial sense.
“We don’t want to wreck that culture. We are here to build a strong business and learn from iiNet. They have very strong customer service and we have a very fast-growing business and so we both can learn from that and complement each other.”
In an effort to show that TPG wishes to work on its customer service, they have also announced for the first time their own NPS score, which stands at 30.
The hope is that such promises and transparency will remove much of the opposition that has arisen because of the proposed takeover. Much of the groundswell of opposition though is not just coming from primary investors. TPG’s customers are also proving to be very vocal about the takeover within forums and social media.
Mr Teoh said of the takeover: “we have a fair bit to learn from iiNet and that excites me.” We only hope then that iiNet rubs off on TPG and not the other way around.
If you want to learn more about the nitty-gritty of the takeover, read the full article here.
The growing strength of e-commerce for b2b
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Even the building materials industry needs e-commerce[/caption]
Is e-commerce also the way forward for certain b2b industries? Wolseley, a UK building materials distribution company might claim that it is starting to look that way.
In the first half of the fiscal year Wolseley’s sales through e-commerce rose in the U.S. by 23%, with e-commerce totaling 13% of all sales. The company now has a real commitment to go the way of many b2c companies and put a heavier focus on e-commerce.
E-commerce better meets the needs of customers, is a lower cost-to-serve channel and has a high adoption rate. As Group Chief Executive Ian Meakins states, “once customers are set up and have tried the channel, they quickly become adopters.”
This trend is also reflected in their interesting decision to separate their NPS into online customers, a score of 73, and their offline core business customers, a score of 68. So while not a staggering difference, their e-commerce is growing much faster than their traditional channels. The result being that as it continues to grow, further investment will be needed to retain the high level of customer experience they have enjoyed so far.
Banks! Customers want experience not products and prices
In a recent study by Frost & Sullivan, a global growth consulting firm, Malaysian customers reported that customer experience was the single most important factor in determining a choice of primary bank.
The study used NPS amongst other measures to discover customer experience laggards and leaders.
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Customer Experience is the number one factor customers choose banks in Malaysia.[/caption]
It found that 38% put customer experience as their number one choice. Other factors such as products and services, trust and rates and fees all came in below this. While a further 81% said that poor customer experience would be the deciding factor in leaving their bank.
“The study… evaluates the critical factors that influence customer behaviour throughout their banking journey," said Mr Hazmi Yusof, Senior Vice President. Further adding “banks that continue to overlook the importance of customer experience do so at their own peril."
Irrespective of country, the study shows that no matter the industry customers are caring more and more about experience. Read more about the Malaysian banking sector right here.
In Brief
Career Partners International has posted an astounding 94.44.
Aderant, a global provider of comprehensive business management software for law and other professional services firm, has posted a score of 88.
In a study of financial advisors conducted on behalf of Zurich by a Melbourne-based research consultancy, the 3,000 customers surveyed gave the practice a 65.
While the luxurious Seneca Hickory Stick Golf Course has a received a score from its golfers of 85.7.
