Consology (PTY) Ltd.

Published: 04 November 2010,
Consology Press Release
Author: Staff Writer

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A significant shift has occurred in Self-Service strategies among South African companies with large customer bases.

Whereas, in the past, Self-Service was seen to a large extent as a benefit offered to customers, companies are now realising that it represents as much of a benefit to themselves.

In the previous study, in 2007, half of all respondents said they would charge customers for self-service. In 2010, not a single respondent still intended to charge for self-service showing the focus that companies now have on moving their customers to self-service channels.

This has emerged from the Self-Service Strategies in South Africa 2010 study, conducted by World Wide Worx in partnership with Consology.

The study shows that, while call centres and web-based Self-Service were dominant forms of self-service, they had not yet gained the unanimous vote of large organisations, which still supported in-branch or service-centre approaches. In 2010, all large customer-carrying companies have implemented both Web and call centre self-service.

Embracing New Trends

Organisations are also beginning to embrace new trends, with a third using social networking - an option that did not exist in this environment three years ago. A third also use instant messaging, which is seen to have matured in this time.

But despite the dramatic increase in importance and strategic awareness of self-service, companies have still not fully got to grips with it. Many companies surveyed did not have the clear visibility into their self-service channel that is required to understand and grow the channel successfully.

However, there was near-unanimity that cost-savings through automating routine customer transactions and the ability to cross-sell and up sell (94% of respondents to both questions) were important benefits that had emerged from self-service. Further, 88% credited self-service with reduction of customer churn and customer retention, as well as with speeding up bill payment.

The strategic gap became apparent, however, in the finding that only half of the respondents (53%) had increased spending on Self-Service in 2010, less than a quarter planned to do so in 2011 (23%), and even fewer in 2012 (18%).

"This is a clear indication that Self-Service is not yet an integral part of the opirational implementation of large organisations," says Arthur Goldstuck, Managing Director of World Wide Worx. "Companies are still working their way down the path and slowly turning on their strategic headlights,” states Goldstuck.

The study was conducted among 17 organisations representing 69-million customer accounts and 7200 customer contact agents or consultants.

Consology View

Says Glen Lumley, Chief Executive Officer at Consology: "This survey is an encouraging reflection of how far Self-Service has come in South Africa over the past 10 years, as well as a reminder of how much work companies could still do to improve their Self-Service offerings."

He notes that 2010 marks the 10th anniversary of Consology's establishment as a specialised Self-Service consulting and implementation firm. The company helped to pioneer the use of online Self-Service and Electronic Billing in South Africa, watching them grow from emerging technologies into part of nearly every company's customer care strategy. 

This is also the third time that Consology has conducted the Self-Service survey in partnership with World Wide Worx.

"During this time, we have seen companies' use and understanding of Self-Service solutions become increasingly sophisticated. Most now understand that it is a requirement for doing business with customers who don't want to wait in queues or hold for call centre agents unless it's really necessary," says Lumley.

"Over the next few years, we expect companies to align Self-Service more tightly with other channel strategies, invest in measuring the cost-savings and other benefits they achieve from Self-Service, and increasingly use it as a competitive strategy for retaining customers rather than as a tactic for saving money," concludes Lumley.


Contact
For more information, contact:

• Arthur Goldstuck, MD, World Wide Worx, on +27 11 782-7003 or by e-mail on arthur@worldwideworx.com
• Glen Lumley, Chief Executive Officer, Consology, on 011 575-6384 or by e-mail on glen@consology.com
• Kevin Meltzer,  Co-founder and Business Development Director, on 011 575-0580 or by e-mail on kevin@consology.com

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