Approximately 307,000 people worked in customer service in the UK in the second quarter of 2009, and another 84,000 worked in call or contact centres. In addition, 96,000 people were managers in customer care, taking total employment in the sector to 487,000, or around one employee in every 50. The overall ratio of one manager to four employees indicates that some organisations are top-heavy with managers.
Staff turnover in contact centres declined in 2008/2009 but remained high at around one employee in five. Salaries for customer-service agents did not rise, and salaries for centre managers fell slightly, but salaries for training managers soared as contact-centre operators focused on training to improve service quality and retain effective employees. In 2009, however, almost four UK contact centres in five engaged more temporary and contract workers. The expansion of temporary staff raises issues such as the problem of providing adequate training for and obtaining excellent performance from people who are engaged for only a short period. Sufficient qualifications, including postgraduate awards, do exist to support a career ladder in customer service. Technology and training together have the potential to offer a viable future for the UK contact-centre and customer-service sector.
Issues of concern to callers to contact centres include staff they cannot understand, automated response menus that are too long or that fail to offer the required option, difficulties in query and complaint resolution, and data theft. For contact-centre organisations, important issues include weighing the risks of infrastructure failure and crime against the cost reductions of offshoring to countries with low labour costs, and calculating the benefits of upgrading their systems against the costs of doing so.
A consumer survey conducted for Key Note in September 2009 revealed that only two people in 15 can always understand contact-centre staff, while two people in nine can hardly ever understand them. Almost 17 people in 20 waste time in automated response queues, and almost one person in three does not receive a satisfactory response when they telephone an organisation with a complaint. Despite these drawbacks, more than seven people in ten prefer the telephone to any other method of communication.
Issues of poor customer service have come to the fore as multinational companies have grown beyond the capacity of many national governments to regulate their activities. Despite this, the public can still influence corporate activities. For example, their reluctance to accept unsolicited telephone calls has reversed the growth of telemarketing. Customers want contact centres to answer calls rapidly and at any time — issues at least partly resolved by dispersed contact centres and the employment of home-based staff.
Current trends in the contact-centre business include: reverse offshoring; increasing the skill and autonomy of contact-centre staff, so that they can better resolve complex queries; and making greater use of automated response for simple communications. These trends reflect a real concern to improve the service provided to customers.
Call Center Industry in the United Kingdom
Executive Summary
1. Introduction
BACKGROUND
Methodology
Problems in the Research Process
DEFINITION
2. Strategic Overview
MARKET DYNAMICS
Issues for Callers
Comprehension
Delays
Complaint and Query Resolution
Fraud
Issues for Contact Centres
Infrastructure Failures and Crime
Compatibility and Convergence
Staff Skills
Award Winners
Market Status
COMPETITIVE STRUCTURE
Table 2.1: The Leading Contact-Centre Companies in the UK by Turnover, Pre-Tax Profit and Number of Staff (£m and number), 2007/2008/2009
Table 2.2: The Leading Contact-Centre Companies in the UK by Profit-to-Sales Ratio (%), 2007/2008
Table 2.3: Contact-Centre Companies in the UK with a Negative Profit-to-Sales Ratio (%), 2007/2008/2009
Table 2.4: Contact-Centre Companies in the UK by Average Employee Remuneration (£), 2007/2008/2009
CONSUMER TRENDS
MARKET OUTLOOK
KEY POINTS
3. Work in Call and Contact Centres
HALF A MILLION WORKERS
Table 3.1: Employment in Call Centres and Customer Care in the UK (000), April to June 2001-2009
Table 3.2: Employment in Call Centres and Customer Care in the UK by Sector by Sex (000), April to June 2001-2009
Table 3.3: Employment in Call Centres and Customer Care in the UK by Type of Contract by Sex (000), April to June 2009
HOME WORKING — BENEFITS AND BARRIERS
STAFF TURNOVER REMAINS HIGH
Table 3.4: Median Salaries in UK Call Centres by Staff Role (£), 2009
TRAINING LADDER IN PLACE
KEY POINTS
4. Contact-Centre Specialists — the In-House Strand
INTRODUCTION
CAPITA
Table 4.1: The Capita Group PLC — Financial Performance (£000, number, £ and %), Years Ending 31st December 2006-2008
VERTEX DATA SCIENCE
Table 4.2: Vertex Data Science Ltd — Financial Performance (£000, number, £ and %), Years Ending 31st March 2007-2009
VENTURA
Table 4.3: Club 24 Ltd — Financial Performance (£000, number, £ and %), Years Ending 31st January 2007-2009
KEY POINTS
5. Contact-Centre Specialists — the Marketing Strand
INTRODUCTION
ANT MARKETING
ARVATO SERVICES
Table 5.1: Arvato Services Ltd — Financial Performance (£000, number, £ and %), Years Ending 31st December 2006-2008
BECOGENT
Table 5.2: beCogent Ltd — Financial Performance (£000, number, £ and %), Years Ending 31st December 2006-2008
BROADCASTING SUPPORT SERVICES
Table 5.3: Broadcasting Support Services — Financial Performance (£000, number, £ and %), Years Ending 31st March 2007-2009
CALLCREDIT INFORMATION GROUP
Table 5.4: Callcredit Information Group Ltd — Financial Performance (£000, number, £ and %), Years Ending 31st December 2006-2008
CARELINE SERVICES
Table 5.5: Careline Services Ltd — Financial Performance (£000, number, £ and %), Years Ending 31st December 2006-2008
CCA INTERNATIONAL
Table 5.6: CCA International (UK) Ltd — Financial Performance (£000, number, £ and %), Years Ending 31st December 2006-2008
CONVERSO
Table 5.7: Converso Contact Centres Ltd — Financial Performance (£000, number, £ and %), 52 Weeks Ending 28th February 2007, 57 Weeks Ending 31st March 2008 and 52 Weeks Ending 31st March 2009
CPM UNITED KINGDOM
Table 5.8: CPM United Kingdom Ltd — Financial Performance (£000, number, £ and %), Years Ending 31st December 2006-2008
DATAFORCE GROUP
Table 5.9: Twenty PLC — Financial Performance (£000, number, £ and %), Years Ending 31st December 2006-2008
FIRSTSOURCE SOLUTIONS UK
Table 5.10: Firstsource Solutions UK Ltd — Financial Performance (£000, number, £ and %), Years Ending 31st March 2006-2008
CJ GARLAND
Table 5.11: CJ Garland & Co Ltd — Financial Performance (£000, number, £ and %), Years Ending 31st October 2006-2008
GOLLEY SLATER
Table 5.12: Golley Slater Group Ltd — Financial Performance (£000, number, £ and %), 52 Weeks Ending 30th November 2006, 70 Weeks Ending 31st March 2008 and 52 Weeks Ending 31st March 2009
HEROTSC
Table 5.13: Telecom Service Centres Ltd — Financial Performance (£000, number, £ and %), 52 Weeks Ending 31st August 2006 and 2007, and 30 Weeks Ending 31st March 2008
INKFISH CALL CENTRES
Table 5.14: Inkfish Call Centres Ltd — Financial Performance (£000, number, £ and %), Years Ending 31st March 2006-2008
LBM
Table 5.15: LBM Holdings Ltd — Financial Performance (£000, number, £ and %), Years Ending 31st May 2006-2008
THE LISTENING COMPANY
Table 5.16: The Listening Company Ltd — Financial Performance (£000, number, £ and %), Years Ending 31st October 2006-2008
PELL & BALES
Table 5.17: Pell & Bales Ltd — Financial Performance (£000, number, £ and %), Years Ending 31st March 2007-2009
PROMOTIONAL LOGISTICS
Table 5.18: Promotional Logistics Ltd — Financial Performance (£000, number, £ and %), Years Ending 31st December 2006-2008
RESPONSE HANDLING
Table 5.19: Response Handling Ltd — Financial Performance (£000, number, £ and %), Years Ending 31st January 2006-2008
SITEL
SPARK RESPONSE
Table 5.20: Spark Response Ltd — Financial Performance (£000, number, £ and %), Years Ending 30th June 2007-2009
TELEGEN UK
Table 5.21: Telegen UK Ltd — Financial Performance (£000, number, £ and %), Years Ending 30th June 2006-2008
TELEPERFORMANCE
Table 5.22: MM Teleperformance Ltd — Financial Performance (£000, number, £ and %), Years Ending 31st December 2006-2008
TRG EUROPE
Table 5.23: TRG Europe PLC — Financial Performance (£000, number, £ and %), 52 Weeks Ending 31st December 2005, 78 Weeks Ending 30th June 2007 and 52 Weeks Ending 30th June 2008
KEY POINTS
6. Contact-Centre Specialists — the Communications, Systems and Software Strand
INTRODUCTION
ACXIOM
Table 6.1: Acxiom Ltd — Financial Performance (£000, number, £ and %), Years Ending 31st March 2006-2008
DIMENSION DATA HOLDINGS/THE MERCHANTS GROUP
Table 6.2: Dimension Data Holdings PLC — Financial Performance ($000, number, $ and %), Years Ending 30th September 2006-2008
KCOM CONTACT CENTRES
Table 6.3: KCom Contact Centres Ltd — Financial Performance (£000, number, £ and %), Years Ending 31st March 2006-2008
INTERNATIONAL OUTSOURCERS: KEY COMPANIES
BT
Table 6.4: BT Group PLC — Financial Performance (£000, number, £ and %), Years Ending 31st March 2007-2009
Cable and Wireless
Table 6.5: Cable and Wireless PLC — Financial Performance (£000, number, £ and %), Years Ending 31st March 2007-2009
Convergys
HP Enterprise Services (formerly EDS)
Microsoft
COMMUNICATIONS, SYSTEMS AND SOFTWARE COMPANIES SIGNIFICANT IN CONTACT-CENTRE DEVELOPMENT
Aspect Software: Session Initiation Protocol
Avaya: Integrated Communications
Business Systems (UK): Voice and Data Recording
Table 6.6: Business Systems (UK) Ltd — Financial Performance (£000, number, £ and %), Years Ending 31st December 2006-2008
Cincom Systems: CRM Software
Table 6.7: Cincom Systems (UK) Ltd — Financial Performance (£000, number, £ and %), Years Ending 30th September 2006-2008
Mitel Networks: Computer Telephony Integration
Table 6.8: Mitel Networks Ltd — Financial Performance (£000, number, £ and %), Years Ending 30th April 2006-2008
Netcall: Telephone Callback
Plantronics: Headsets
Table 6.9: Plantronics Ltd — Financial Performance (£000, number, £ and %), 53 Weeks Ending 3rd April 2005, 52 Weeks Ending 1st April 2006 and 52 Weeks Ending 31st March 2007
Verint
KEY POINTS
7. Promotion and Consulting
CUSTOMERS OPTING OUT
MAKING AN EXHIBITION
CONTACT CENTRES WITHIN A LARGER TECHNOLOGY SECTOR
KEY POINTS
8. An International Perspective
OFFSHORING RUSH OVER
INDIA STILL THE OFFSHORE HUB
NEW LOCATIONS
Eastern Europe
Egypt
Tunisia and Morocco
The Philippines
South Africa
Latin America
KEY POINTS
9. PEST Analysis
ECONOMICS DOMINATING POLITICS
SOCIETY: DISPERSED AND FLEXIBLE
TECHNOLOGY: IMPROVING CUSTOMER SERVICE
Compatibility and Convergence
Speech Recognition
E-Mail
Acting on Incomplete Transactions
Social Media
KEY POINTS
10. Consumer Dynamics
INTRODUCTION
Contact Centres: the Customer’s Perspective
FAILURE TO COMMUNICATE
Table 10.1: How Often Do People Understand Contact-Centre Staff? (% of respondents), 2009
Diversity in Experiences
Table 10.2: I Can Always Understand What Call-Centre Staff Say to Me (% of respondents), 2009
Frequent Understanding More Common Among the Young
Table 10.3: I Can Frequently Understand What Call-Centre Staff Say to Me (% of respondents), 2009
Understanding from Time to Time is Not Good Enough
Table 10.4: I Can from Time to Time Understand What Call-Centre Staff Say to Me (% of respondents), 2009
Poor Communication is a Serious Problem
Table 10.5: I Can Hardly Ever Understand What Call-Centre Staff Say to Me (% of respondents), 2009
SAVING COSTS AT THE EXPENSE OF CUSTOMER SERVICE
Table 10.6: I Waste Time Waiting for Automated Telephone Answering Systems to Connect Me to the Correct Person or Department (% of respondents), 2009
Table 10.7: I Waste Time Waiting for Automated Telephone Answering Systems to Connect Me to the Correct Person or Department (% of respondents), 2000-2009
OVERWHELMING DEMAND TO SPEAK TO REAL PEOPLE
Table 10.8: When I Telephone an Organisation I Would Rather Speak to a Real Person Than to an Automated Answering Service (% of respondents), 2009
Table 10.9: When I Telephone an Organisation I Would Rather Speak to a Real Person Than to an Automated Answering Service (% of respondents), 2000-2009
TELEPHONE STILL THE FAVOURITE METHOD OF CONTACT
Table 10.10: Preferred Method of Contacting an Organisation (% of respondents), 2009
Majority Prefer the Telephone
Table 10.11: When I Need to Contact an Organisation, I Prefer to Do So by Telephone (% of respondents), 2009
Online Contact Not for Everyone
Table 10.12: When I Need to Contact an Organisation, I Prefer to Do So by E-Mail or by Clicking Through from Their Website (% of respondents), 2009
Branch Visits Popular with the Elderly
Table 10.13: When I Need to Contact an Organisation, I Prefer to Do So by Going into a Main or Branch Office (% of respondents), 2009
Letters Under Threat
Table 10.14: When I Need to Contact an Organisation, I Prefer to Do So by Letter or Fax (% of respondents), 2009
DEMAND FOR FLEXIBLE COMMUNICATION OPTIONS
Table 10.15: I Like to be Able to Choose the Way I Contact an Organisation, According to the Circumstances (% of respondents), 2009
Table 10.16: If I Have to Contact a Company or Organisation, I Would Prefer to Speak to Someone I am Familiar with (% of respondents), 2000-2005
COMPLAINTS: BIG SCOPE FOR IMPROVEMENT
Table 10.17: When I Telephone an Organisation with a Complaint, it is Usually Resolved to My Satisfaction (% of respondents), 2009
QUERIES HANDLED BETTER THAN COMPLAINTS
Table 10.18: When I Telephone an Organisation with a Query, it is Usually Answered to My Satisfaction (% of respondents), 2009
TELESALES PRESSURE A MINORITY ISSUE
Table 10.19: Salespersons Who Telephone Me to Persuade Me to Buy Something Always Make Me Feel Under Pressure (% of respondents), 2009
Table 10.20: Salespersons Who Telephone Me to Persuade Me to Buy Something Frequently Make Me Feel Under Pressure (% of respondents), 2009
Table 10.21: Salespersons Who Telephone Me to Persuade Me to Buy Something Make Me Feel Under Pressure from Time to Time (% of respondents), 2009
Table 10.22: Salespersons Who Telephone Me to Persuade Me to Buy Something Hardly Ever Make Me Feel Under Pressure (% of respondents), 2009
CURTAINS FOR COLD CALLING?
Table 10.23: I Do Not Accept Telephone Calls from Salespersons Unless I Have Contacted Them Previously (% of respondents), 2009
KEY POINTS
11. The Future
TECHNOLOGY FOR MULTIPLE CHANNELS
UNCERTAINTIES TO RESOLVE
Quality versus Cost Control
Staff on Telephones versus Web Self-Service and E-Mail
Building a Career Ladder versus Staff Jumping Off It
Technological Upgrades: Beneficial or a Waste of Resources?
Administrative Process versus Brand Promotion
MULTISHORING
GROWTH DOUBTS
SHAKE OUT AND IN
KEY POINTS
12. Glossary
GENERAL TERMS
CALL/CONTACT-CENTRE AND TELEPHONY TERMS
13. Further Sources
Associations
Publications
General Sources
Government Sources
Other Sources
Key Note Sources
Key Note Research
The Key Note Range of Reports
