Annual Report Highlights On-time Arrivals Have Biggest Impact on Companies’ Reputation, But Actual Wait Windows Fail to Meet Customer Expectations

LONDON, UK – November 3, 2011 – TOA Technologies, the only Cloud-based provider of enterprise-class mobile workforce management and customer experience management software solutions, has released its annual “Cost of Waiting” report, evaluating the economic impact of waiting for in-home services among businesses  and consumers. The 2011 report found a £2 billion economic impact for the total time people spent waiting for services.  76% of Britons waited for cable/satellite TV, Internet, utilities, retail home deliveries or other mobile workforce-related services in the past year.

“It’s clear from this year's ‘Cost of Waiting’ survey that customer service needs to be a top priority for businesses in the current climate, not only because it can negatively affect a company’s performance but because poor service around wait times has financial penalties for a company’s own customers. Waiting has a huge potential impact on both individual customers and the economy as a whole.  Broadband, cable, satellite, retail and utility companies can actually help consumers save lost earnings at a time when so many people are looking for ways to conserve every dollar,” said Yuval Brisker, co-founder and CEO of TOA Technologies. 

“All they need to do is respect the consumers time by reducing the ‘wait window,’ keeping their promises and arriving on time, sending the right person to do the job the first time and communicating effectively throughout the process using every available means.  These companies can positively impact people’s lives by offering more flexible scheduling, more guaranteed appointment times and more advanced technology coordination tools to assure on-time arrival. With TOA’s flagship solution, ETAdirect, we have revolutionized field service management by focusing on helping our customers narrow their wait windows through time-based predictive analytics using sophisticated performance pattern recognition. A tool, such as ETAdirect, provides many further efficiencies in improved customer service and ends up not only pleasing customers, who carry that message to the world via social media, but also returns the investment with massive benefits through an intelligent, strategic reduction of operational costs.”

Based on respondent-reported values for their time, the annual Cost of Waiting per individual per annum is £177.11. British consumers waited in 3.6 times for goods or services in the last 12 months.  Over a third (34% of respondents) waited in 5 times or more.

Whilst the cost to individuals is high, the cost to businesses is not insignificant. Of the consumers surveyed, 14% said they had cancelled a service or product because it was not delivered within the promised wait window, 12% of Brits who waited longer than expected switched to a competitor and 36% left their homes before the delivery or engineer had arrived. The cost to businesses per year in cancelled goods and services alone is estimated at least £755 million excluding the costs to a business of missed appointments and re-deliveries.  Respondents reported an average value of £144.68 per customer for goods and services cancelled within the last 12 months.

According to the Annual “Cost of Waiting” Survey, the British public expects retailers and service providers to be able to provide (and meet) wait windows of less than two hours (1.97 hours).  However, the mean actual wait time was 4.3 hours.

Whilst a negative customer experience can have significant financial consequences for firms, arriving for an appointment within the allotted time-slot has significant benefits.  Of the respondents surveyed, 77% suggested that an on-time arrival had a positive impact on their perception of a company and 64% of consumers that waited in said they would recommend a company for an on-time arrival.  However, if a company is just 15 minutes late, the number of respondents that would recommend that company to a friend dropped to just 22%.

TOA’s ETAdirect provides a complete platform to manage the mobile workforce with a focus on improving customer service by delivering easy to use mobility and management applications that enable service providers to get the right technician, with the right essential skill set and level to appointments within a narrow, guaranteed service window.

For a full report of the survey results, including detailed findings from the UK, US, Germany and Brazil, and TOA's 2011 “Cost of Waiting” media kit, please visit: http://toatech.com/costofwaiting/.