The UK’s annual call centre benchmarking study shows UK’s Top 50 Call Centres for Customer Service continue to raise the bar for the industry yet again

- Entry level for Top 50 programme increases by 7% year-on-year
- Financial Services remains top performing sector with a score of 87%
- Public Services Sector shows biggest overall improvement in service year-on-year up by 6%
- F&C Investments retains the number one position for a second year running with a whopping score of 97.54%, outperforming the financial sector average by 10.54%
- 97% of callers said their enquiry was completely resolved by  a single call

London, UK – 13th October, 2010:  Global asset management company F&C Investments has repeated its 2009 success to achieve the highest score in the UK’s biggest ever call centre benchmarking exercise, with an impressive 97.54%, outperforming the Financial Services sector average by 10.54%. The study, conducted by independent market research company GfK Mystery Shopping shows that the UK’s Top 50 Call Centres for Customer Service continue to raise the bar for the call centre industry, with improved performances across the board.

The benchmarking exercise also showed 96% of customers got through to the call centre on their first attempt. An impressive 97% of callers felt that their enquiry was completely resolved. And the number of calls put on hold fell by a third from 15% in 2009 to just 10% in 2010. Furthermore, 66% of callers to the Top 10 said that the call enhanced their perception of the brand.

The annual study, now in its third year, aims to drive up call centre standards by measuring customer service performance across five key areas: timeliness, ease of use, reliability, knowledgeable staff and personalisation. Over 18,500 mystery shopping enquiries were made to more than fifty call centres participating in the Top 50 Call Centres for Customer Service Programme and each participant was awarded a Customer Service rating in percentage terms.

The top five featured a Public Services sector organisation for the first time, with the disability driving scheme organisation Motability Operations capturing second place. Dignity Caring Funeral Services improved on last year’s position, climbing two spots to achieve third position. Laithwaites, the largest direct seller of wine in the UK was the best performing retailer, in fourth position with a score of 91.32%, and Specsavers shot up the rankings to reach fifth place. LOVEFILM.COM topped the entertainment, travel & leisure sector and E.ON UK was the best performer in the utilities sector.

The Top 10 UK call centres for customer service
1    F&C Investments            Financial Services      97.54%
2   Motability Operations         Public Services         93.67%
3   Dignity Caring Funeral Services      Financial Services      91.78%
4   Laithwaites            Retail & Distribution      91.32%
5   Specsavers Optical Superstores      Retail & Distribution      90.85%
6   Guinness Northern Counties      Public Services         90.35%
7   Heateam Baxi Group         Retail & Distribution      90.05%
8   Dyson               Retail & Distribution      90.03%
9   LOVEFiLM.COM            Entertainment, Leisure & Travel   89.38%
10   E.ON UK               Utilities         89.10%
Overall, the biggest year-on-year improvement was achieved by the Public Services sector, which rose from 80% to 86%, bringing it on a level with the Utilities and Retail & Distribution sectors. Financial Services remained the top performing sector with 87%.  The Entertainment, Leisure and Travel sector was the only sector that scored lower than its 2009 benchmark moving down 1% to 85% from 86%.

Overall sector scores
1. Financial Services   87%
2. Public Services   86%
3. Utilities   86%
4. Retail & Distribution   86%
5. Entertainment, Leisure & Travel   85%

Simon Thorpe, Programme Director, Top 50 Call Centres for Customer Service, commented:
“We are pleased to be dispelling more call centre myths with our latest benchmarking study, which proves that the UK’s leading call centres are committed to outstanding customer service. Over the last three years the study has also proved that investing in frontline employees and providing excellent customer service offers organisations the greatest opportunity to differentiate themselves from the competition.

“This year’s results demonstrated the steadily improving standards of the UK’s Top 50 Call Centres for Customer Service with the overall average score improved by 2%, from 84% in 2009 to 86% in 2010. Our members have continued to raise the bar, reflected by a 7% rise in the level of performance needed just to make it into the Top 50. These year-on-year improvements also suggest that our existing Top 50 members are benefiting from their involvement with the Top 50 Call Centres for Customer Service Programme, helping them to drive up customer service performance.

“Getting all the elements of excellent customer service in place has proven to be an invaluable asset to our members in a time when companies are realising that building lasting relationships is highly dependent on levels of service, and we hope their results inspire others to raise their standards of service.

“We hope that the results of the third year’s survey will inspire other call centres to achieve the standards of set by the Top 50 and as always we are grateful to Genesys, Jabra and Noble Systems for their support of the programme and their invaluable contributions to the industry.”