Purdue News
Purdue News
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August 2000 Answering customer calls the right wayWEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – In today's competitive marketplace businesses are finding that customer access can make the difference in the consumer's decisions. Customer access centers, whether they are the toll-free telephone numbers or the Web access center, can increase the probability that customers will choose and remain loyal to a business. Ten years ago businesses looked at the toll-free number as a cost. Today, businesses look at the creation and development of multiple access as an investment in their bottom lines. A good call center can increase customer loyalty, according to Jon Anton of the Center for Customer Driven Quality in Purdue's School of Consumer and Family Sciences. "Our research shows that a dissatisfied customer who calls a call center and is satisfied with the resolution to a problem, or who gets an answer to a question, is actually more loyal to the brand or company than a customer who never calls and is simply satisfied," Anton says. Anton says call centers are effective because companies find that keeping customers by solving their problems is cheaper than attracting new customers. "Indeed, our studies have shown that consumers are surprised at the lengths to which companies will go to satisfy them," he says. The Center for Customer Driven Quality's mission is to bridge the gap between academia and business. It provides research, student education and professional experience, and executive education. CONTACT: Jon Anton, (765) 494-8357, drjonanton@aol.com Briefs compiled by J. Michael Lillich, (765) 494-2077, mlillich@purdue.edu Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu
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