Integrating the Internet into Customer Service: Adoption in the Middle & Enterprise Markets

A recent survey of by Cahners In-Stat Group took examined how a 150 mid-size and enterprise businesses are currently handling customer service and the solutions they are adopting to do so. This report takes an in-depth look at the types of solutions being implemented to handle both online and offline customer interaction and the requirements of enabling an effective customer interaction strategy in the Digital Age.

Executive Summary

Methodology

Survey Research

Customer Service in the New Economy

Market Demographics for the Corporate Market

# Of Firms

Growth in Both Markets

# Of Firms by Vertical Industry

Internet Penetration

The Internet & Customer Service

Web Strategies Increasing the Need for Customer Service

Customer Interaction Points

Surrounding the Customer

New Forms of Customer Interaction

Solutions Employed for Customer Interaction

Components of Customer Service Solutions

Mid-Size Business

Enterprise Business

Propensity to Outsource

Mid-size Businesses

Enterprise Businesses

Methods of Handling Customer Service

Components of Middle Market Customer Service Environment

Components of Enterprise Market Customer Service Environment

# Of Solutions Used for Customer Service

# Of Solutions for the Middle Market

# Of Solutions for the Enterprise Market

Choosing a Solution

Conclusion

List of Tables

Table 1: # of Firms - Middle Market, 2000-2004

Table 2: # of Firms - Enterprise Market, 2000-2004

Table 3: Growth in # of Firms - Middle Market, 2000-2004

Table 4: Growth in the # of Firms - Enterprise Business, 2000-2004

Table 5: # of Employees w/ Internet Access - Middle Businesses, 2000-2004

Table 6: # of Employees w/ Internet Access - Enterprise Businesses, 2000-2004

Table 7: The Impact of the Internet on Customer Service

Table 8: Customer Contact Solutions - Mid-size Business, 2000-2001

Table 9: Customer Contact Solutions - Enterprise Business, 2000-2001

Table 10: Customer Service Solutions in the Organization

Table 11: Components for Selecting a Customer Service Solution

List of Figures

Figure 1: Integrated Customer Service - "Surrounding the Customer"

Figure 2: Survey Respondents by Vertical Industry

Figure 3: Vertical Industry Segmentation - Middle Market, 2000

Figure 4: Vertical Industry Segmentation - Enterprise Market, 2000

Figure 5: Web Strategies Increasing Need for Customer Service

Figure 6: Frequently Used Customer Interaction Points, 2000

Figure 7: Perceptions of Online Customer Service, 2000

Figure 8: Top 5 Most Used Customer Interaction Solutions, 2000

Figure 9: Solutions Currently In-house & Outsourced - Mid-size Business, 2000

Figure 10: Solutions Currently In-house &. Outsourced - Enterprise Business, 2000

Figure 11: Online & Offline Customer Service in the Organization

Figure 12: # of Individual Solutions for Middle & Enterprise Market, 2000

Figure 13: Complexity of Customer Care Solutions - Middle Market, 2000

Figure 14: Customer Interaction Environment - Enterprise Market, 2000