Customers let down by call centres

Large gap between customer and call centre expectations, according to Oracle

Businesses are failing their customers because call centre staff are ill-equipped to provide an effective service, according to new research from enterprise applications giant Oracle.

The firm surveyed 1,500 consumers and 250 call centre managers across Europe, and found a sizeable gap between consumer expectations of customer service and the ability of businesses to deliver this.

Forty per cent of UK respondents rated call centres as ineffective, far higher than the European average of 25 per cent. Meanwhile 68 per cent of British respondents said more staff training was necessary.

"Staff do a great job in contact centres but firms could do with more training, tools and processes that allow them to have a more 360 degree view of the customer," said David Mills, Oracle vice president of CRM sales.

The research also found that customers prefer using the internet to call centres as a means to resolve any problems they have with a business.