Survey by Omega Management Group Corp. and Coveo Highlights Challenges Facing Customer Support Teams as Information Continues to Proliferate Beyond the Traditional Knowledge Base and CRM

CHICAGO & BILLERICA, Mass. – A new survey released today reveals some of the most critical and costly challenges facing customer support departments, and the negative impact on customer service metrics. The survey results indicate that the biggest problems are caused by inefficient access to the information needed to solve customer issues, as data continues to proliferate beyond the traditional knowledge base and CRM.

The survey was conducted by Omega Management Group Corp., experts in customer experience management (CEM) strategy and sponsor of the annual NorthFace ScoreBoard Award^SM for excellence in customer service and support, and Coveo,a provider of Enterprise Search 2.0 and Customer Information Solutions. Key survey findings include the following:

The Knowledge Base is No Longer Enough:  In Some Companies, More Than 20 Systems Contain Customer Information

• While nearly 70 percent of customer service organizations surveyed have invested in a knowledge base, that same percentage reports that the knowledge base does not contain the information necessary for agents to solve customer issues.
  • For companies with 251-500 agents, 83 percent cannot find the information in the knowledge base.
• For companies with more than 10,000 employees, 43 percent report that information that contact center agents need to solve customer issues resides in more than 20 different systems.

Lack of Access to Customer Information Creates Contact Center Challenges

• Seventy (70) percent of survey respondents indicated that they are facing significant challenges as a result of agents not being able to find necessary customer information.
• Respondents listed case handling time (50 percent), customer satisfaction (49 percent), and first contact resolution (FCR) (49 percent) as the top three challenges.

The Costs of Inefficiency

• Knowledge base operational challenges can have a significant impact on a company’s bottom line. Thirty (30) percent of participants estimated the impact between $100,000 to $1 million per year, including six percent who put the cost at $1 to $5 million.
• Nearly 48 percent of respondents said less than 10 percent of customer service interactions generate revenue through cross-selling and up-selling, showing a significant opportunity to change contact centers from cost centers to revenue producers.

Results were compiled from a survey conducted in February 2011 of managers, vice presidents, and C-level executives from the computer hardware & software, complex manufacturing, medical devices, and technology services industries, responsible for customer service and support operations.