In what might be an unexpected bit of common sense, a research firm has found that high-tech and computer firms rank highly on how well they treat their online customers, especially in comparison to other industries.
According to The Customer Respect Group, a research and consulting firm based in Ipswich, Mass., its First Quarter 2008 Online Customer Respect Study of High-Technology and Computer Industry Online Support "evaluated Web sites of a representative sample of high-tech companies that supply online support to customers."
The goal, the researcher said, was to "bring objective and consistent measure to the analysis of corporate performance from an online customer's perspective." A Customer Respect Index (CRI) is provided for each company based on the scores.
CRG further stated that, "High-technology support sites exceed those from other industries in the provision of options for customers to gain information." Industries that didn't do as well include auto insurance (!), financial services, life insurance (!), retail, telecommunications and transport, the researcher added.
It was interesting to note that among the 18 companies surveyed, no ISPs were included. More than half were hardware manufacturers. A complete listing is available at www.customerrespect.com.
The top companies, "worthy of the 'Excellent' classification" were: Hewlett-Packard, Intuit, Xerox, Microsoft and Lexmark, said CRG.
Comments (2)
I don't like to see insurance IT jobs float overseas any more than you do, but I don't think it's going to stop with IT. What's to stop certain underwriting functions from getting on the ship, and a few statisticians along with them? It's not inconceivable for future insurance company domestic personnel to consist primarily of sales, claims, a few business analysts and some management types. These incentives you're referring to... what is the cost justification and who is going to pay for them? As time moves on, the offshore resource option grows more and more attractive, and the looming recession will make it even more attractive.
Posted by Larry Michael | March 11, 2008 7:40 PM
Posted on March 11, 2008 19:40
Larry, I'm not sure your comment belongs with this article, but I am intrigued by your points. I would suggest that incentives be funded by the companies themselves, who can use the training contract as an employment contract that allows them to hold trainees for some specified length of time. The former Chubb Top Gun Program did this very thing, offering free training in exchange for a minimum amount of service at full pay.
But let's say that the costs of the incentives are passed on to consumers in the form of higher insurance rates or higher taxes. The real question is, what will the financial and social damage to our society cost when, as you suggest, many more jobs leave our country? The offshore option is attractive financially in the short term, but who will pay for the lost jobs and lost lives in the long term? Answer: all of us.
Posted by Ara Trembly | March 12, 2008 9:37 AM
Posted on March 12, 2008 09:37