A new study by J.D. Power of the wireless landscape in Canada yielded some surprising results, especially when it comes to Millennials, born 1982-1994. This group is growing in the number of adults as they age and because of this are having a sizable impact on how business is conducted. Growing up in an electronic world has given these adults the need to solve their problems online – at websites or using chat tools – no face-to-face communications when they can avoid it. It is a shift in customer care that has helped improve customer satisfaction – possibly because it is less of a hassle than driving to a store or dealing with a possible attitude. Satisfaction was measured across four factors – listed in order of importance – phone customer service representative (CRS), in-store service, online service, and a phone automated response system (ARS).
This study of customer care rankings put Koodo Mobile at tops with a score of 798, where they perform particularly well in both in-store service and online service. Videotron came in a close second with a score of 790, while SaskTel pulled in third with 785 points. Telus had a score of 771, Virgin Mobile had 764, and Fido scored 747. All of those carriers were above the industry average score of 738, but the following carriers were below that average – WIND Mobile had 720, Rogers had 707 and Bell fell into last place with 706.
Wireless customers are moving away from the tradition phone contacts and adopting a self-service approach to seeking customer care. About 33-percent of customers opted for the online website or the chat method to seek help with their problem and quite an increase from 28-percent in 2015. Millennials are also much more likely to contact online customer service than other generations – 40-percent have contacted customer care online during the past six months as compared to 29-percent of other customers.
This trend is also recognized in overall contact – Millennials made an average of 4.9 customer care contacts during the past six months while Boomers, born 1946-1964, only made 2.5 customer care contacts. Adrian Chung, director at J.D. Power, says, “Wireless carriers need to embrace the shift to online self-service across all customer segments to provide a gratifying experience that matches customer behaviors.” And just because the Millennials are spearheading the use of online solutions, everybody is exposed to it, and according to Chung, “The task for carriers is to create awareness, educate customers and communicate the benefits of using these digital channels.”