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The Vocal Customer: Executives and consumers speak up

Product Type: Market Research Report
Published by: Datamonitor
Published: October 2002
Product Code: R313-4451
Description
Introduction: In addition to understanding the value chain and markets for voice business, voice business vendors need to understand the attitudes of their customers and their customers' customers: executives and consumers. To clarify customer perceptions, Datamonitor has analyzed the results of several surveys of executives and consumers in Europe, Asia Pacific, and the US. Scope: * Highlights current and future trends and perceived drivers and inhibitors of enterprise IT spend, plus an industry focus on Financial Services * Includes executive perceptions of the ROI realized from existing IT expenditures and the source of customer funding for future IT investments * Highlights consumer expectations regarding mobile and fixed-line telephone usage, and preferences regarding features and services * Presents consumer channel preferences for communicating with suppliers, as well as attitudes towards quality of customer service * Includes Datamonitor's opinion of the survey data presented in the report and the voice business market as a whole. Report Highlights: Enterprises have reined in spending to focus on key objectives and ROI. 37% of 150 executives surveyed claim that only selected projects will be signed off due to the current IT investment climate. Another 9% claim eBusiness projects have been put on hold. However, 64% claim the current IT investment climate has no effect on their decision to implement eBusiness projects. However, large IT investments are usually appropriated from special budgets not annual IT budgets. Consumers are generally unwilling to pay more for more minutes or new services. 20% of those surveyed indicate they would pay for more voice calls and 19% would pay more for new services. Interest in paying for new services is highest in the US. In addition, those surveyed overwhelmingly want to communicate with service providers (60%) and utilities providers (56%) via telephone. However, these industries are rated the worst in customer service. Reasons to Purchase: * Understand customer attitudes and investment trends to identify strategic and tactical initiatives to secure customer funding for voice deployments * Develop marketing and sales messages that address specific executive and consumer concerns * Benefit from industry-specific analysis that identifies significant opportunities for customer service improvements through voice technologies * Learn Datamonitor's opinion of the direction voice business should take in the short and long term * Develop messages that resonate with enterprises and service providers and promote the overall growth of voice business
Table of Contents
Overview

Introduction

In addition to understanding the value chain and markets for voice business, voice business vendors need to understand the attitudes of their customers and their customers’ customers: executives and consumers. To clarify customer perceptions, Datamonitor has analyzed the results of several surveys of executives and consumers in Europe, Asia Pacific, and the US.


Scope

Highlights current and future trends and perceived drivers and inhibitors of enterprise IT spend, plus an industry focus on Financial Services. Includes executive perceptions of the ROI realized from existing IT expenditures and the source of customer funding for future IT investments. Highlights consumer expectations regarding mobile and fixed-line telephone usage, and preferences regarding features and services. Presents consumer channel preferences for communicating with suppliers, as well as attitudes towards quality of customer service. Includes Datamonitor’s opinion of the survey data presented in the report and the voice business market as a whole.



Report Highlights

Enterprises have reined in spending to focus on key objectives and ROI. 37% of 150 executives surveyed claim that only selected projects will be signed off due to the current IT investment climate. Another 9% claim eBusiness projects have been put on hold. However, 64% claim the current IT investment climate has no effect on their decision to implement eBusiness projects. However, large IT
investments are usually appropriated from special budgets not annual IT budgets. Consumers are generally unwilling to pay more for more minutes or new services. 20% of those surveyed indicate they would pay for more voice calls and 19% would pay more for new services. Interest in paying for new services is highest in the US. In addition, those surveyed overwhelmingly want to communicate with service providers (60%) and utilities providers (56%) via telephone. However, these industries are rated the worst in customer service.



Reasons to Purchase

Understand customer attitudes and investment trends to identify strategic and tactical initiatives to secure customer funding for voice deployments. Develop marketing and sales messages that address specific executive and consumer concerns. Benefit from industry-specific analysis that identifies significant opportunities for customer service improvements through voice technologies. Learn Datamonitor’s opinion of the direction voice business should take in the short and long term. Develop messages that resonate with enterprises and service providers and promote the overall growth of voice business.



MARKET CONTEXT: ENTERPRISE

This chapter illustrates current and future trends in enterprise IT spend, the perceived drivers and inhibitors of IT spend, where customer funding for large IT initiatives comes from, and who are the key decision-makers for new initiatives. The impact of the current economic climate on spending is illustrated, as are enterprise efforts to migrate customers to cheaper channels. This chapter analyzes executive perceptions of the return on investment (ROI) realized from existing IT expenditures, as well as attitudes towards ROI going forward. Finally, the enterprise chapter presents an industry focus on Financial
Services executives. What IT investments are enterprises making? B2C eBusiness solutions have the highest penetration. Impact of economic conditions on eBusiness implementations. What are the drivers for enterprise IT investment? Cost savings and efficiency. New channels to market and customer service. Convergence of voice and data networks. Customer funding for voice or other IT investments is auxiliary and linked to CEO/board-level executives. Learn executive perceptions of the sources for IT investment funds. ROI: the current link to IT investment. Understand the importance of ROI in the current economic climate. Empowering the mobile employee.
The increasingly mobile workplace creates an opportunity for speech-enabled. solutions to increase efficiency or improve access to enterprise resources for employees on the go. Industry focus: Financial Services

There are a host of new channels being made available to FS customers. FS companies are improving eBusiness services to differentiate themselves. CRM has become a necessary tool to understand customers.



MARKET CONTEXT: CONSUMERS

Datamonitor’s analysis of the survey results highlights consumer attitudes and expectations regarding mobile and fixed-line telephone usage, reasons for switching networks, and which features and services consumers most desire. Going further, Datamonitor examines how concerns about the Internet affect consumer-spending patterns. Finally, this chapter presents consumer channel preferences for communicating with suppliers, perceptions of customer service in a number of industries, and the direct and indirect cost of poor customer service. Usage of mobile versus fixed-line telephones. Understand the importance and unique dynamics of the mobile versus fixed-line telephone markets. Why do consumers choose a service provider? Service providers are more important to consumers than devices. Prices and coverage drive customer acquisition. What features and services do consumers use and want?
Examination of the network and device features and services that consumers want most. I found a product online, now what? Customers are turning to the Internet for products and services, but remain concerned. How are consumers paying online and offline for products ordered over the Internet? How much are consumers willing to risk on Internet purchases? How consumers want to communicate? Online enterprises are expected to have a face (or voice). Even when consumers prefer the telephone, personal service is important for purchases. In general, customers are fed up with being forced to use channels they would otherwise avoid. Customer service perceptions and reactions. Identifies the obvious and hidden costs of poor customer satisfaction. Who should voice business vendors target? Which markets are losing money from poor customer service? Identifies opportunities within key verticals.



OPINION

Outlines Datamonitor’s opinions on the results presented in this report and the voice business market as a whole. Highlights some of the implications for voice business vendors and places specific analysis in context. Identifies key trends throughout the report, and makes recommendations for voice business vendors based on these and broader market trends.


ACTION POINTS

Identifies strategic recommendations for voice business vendors and suggests how they should respond to executive and consumer attitudes and expectations.



APPENDIX

Supplementary figures, supplementary tables, source data descriptions, abbreviations, research methodology, and a list of published and future reports.



DATASETS

Table 1: Which technologies have you implemented and/or are planning to implement in the next 18 months?

Table 2: Where are the key areas for IT investment in your enterprise over the next few months?

Table 3: Where are the key areas for IT investment in your enterprise over the next few months?

Table 4: Which of the following applications do you currently have in place?

Table 5: At what stage are your various electronic business infrastructures?

Table 6: How is the current IT investment climate affecting your decision to implement eBusiness projects?

Table 7: What will be the main drivers of your IT strategy in 2002?

Table 8: What were the stated business objectives of the mCommerce project?

Table 9: What are the main drivers to implementing an mCommerce solution?

Table 10: Would you trust mobile devices and networks with business transactions and payments and/or mission critical processes and applications?

Table 11: Running my voice traffic over my data network would simplify my architecture and save me important maintenance costs

Table 12: Would a large IT investment, such as the mCommerce solution, come from the annual IT budget or a special budget?

Table 13: Who in your company makes decisions on major mCommerce projects?

Table 14: In previous large-scale IT projects who within the company has been most influential in solution design and implementation success?

Table 15: "I would only consider investing in an IT solution that offered a clear return on investment at the present time.”

Table 16: Within what time frame would you typically expect the return on investment to be?

Table 17: Do you currently offer remote access services to the following parties?

Table 18: What applications do you currently offer to remote workers?

Table 19: How do your employees access these services?

Table 20: What Channels do you use to sell to your customers now?

Table 21: Which channel generates the most business?

Table 22: What do you plan to be the three key benefits of your eBusiness investments?

Table 23: What functionality are you looking to add to your Website over the next 2 years?

Table 24: Have you ever invested in any of the following systems?

Table 25: Of the following, what is the primary area for eInvestment in 2001?

Table 26: What are the main barriers to adoption of eCommerce with your company?

Table 27: Expectation regarding usage of mobile phone in future

Table 28: Usage of mobile phone versus fixed line phone

Table 29: Likelihood of disconnecting land line in favor of mobile phone in the future

Table 30: Willingness to pay more to be able to have more voice calls each month

Table 31: Willingness to pay more for new services

Table 32: Most important consideration when choosing last service provider

Table 33: Reason for last changing network/service provider

Table 34: Which services do you use now on your PC at home or think you might use in 12 months?

Table 35: Which services do you use now on your WAP/Mobile phone or think you might use in 12 months?

Table 36: Importance of features / services

Table 37: Likelihood of changing network/service provider if ideal phone available from a different provider

Table 38: Which, if any, of the following issues concern you personally about using the Internet?

Table 39: How strongly do you agree or disagree with the following statement?

Table 40: Have you ordered any products or services over the Internet in the last 12 months?

Table 41: To what extent were you concerned when paying over the Internet about the security of your payment?

Table 42: How did you pay for the products/services you ordered over the Internet in the last 12 months?

Table 43: What methods of payment have you used to pay online for the products/services you have ordered over the Internet in the last 12 months?

Table 44: What offline methods of payment have you used to pay for the products/services you have ordered over the Internet over the past 12 months?

Table 45: Is there a limit to the amount you would pay for a product that you purchase online?

Table 46: What is the limit?

Table 47: How would you prefer to deal with each of the following?

Table 48: What type of personal interaction with an online product or service provider would you most value?

Table 49: How would you prefer to deal with a utility supplier for each of the following?

Table 50: Do you agree or disagree with the following statements?

Table 51: What level of service have you experienced in general from the following?

Table 52: How often would you say you changed suppliers due to poor service compared to all other possible reasons?

Table 53: Although you did not change suppliers, has poor customer service ever caused you to not give a supplier/company as much business as you might have done?

Table 54: Have you ever changed suppliers in any of the following categories as a result of poor service?

Table 55: Have you ever wanted to change suppliers in any of the following categories as a result of poor service but did not because it was too difficult or there was no better choice available

Table 56: Why did you not pay online for some or all of the products/services you have ordered over the Internet in the last 12 months?
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