• silicon.com
• Technology
• Software

By Dominic Maher, 26 October 2000 17:45

NEWS According to research from Vanson Bourne, 26 per cent of consumers polled are frustrated by the fact that when faced by a problem it's becoming increasingly difficult to get their grievance across. The report, entitled A tale of two citizens, how customers might be satisfied by the ecommerce revolution was commissioned by the Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC). Kevin Withnail, director at Vanson Bourne, said the only way Customer Relationship Management (CRM) can be improved is to encourage consumers to complain. He said: "UK consumers are no good at complaining and we would encourage them to do so because those who do complain see problems addressed." He said: "Only 20 per cent of organisations have CRM systems in place and only half of the remaining 80 per cent are looking to implement CRM within the next two years." He added: "It's about offering a range of communication and allowing the customer to choose." Richard Bowering, head of CRM at CSC, said companies are spending money but in the wrong areas. He said: "Money is being spent on call centres and ecommerce strategies but businesses are not taking into account what consumers need." He said: "Companies are just building call centres with interactive voice response (IVR) capabilities and leaving it as the only choice. Consumers are not happy with this." Bowering said although things look bad, the UK is slightly ahead of the game compared with other countries, which suggests problems are far greater across Europe without them even realising it. Vanson Bourne spoke to 1,000 consumers across the UK and 100 businesses - half from the retail sector and half from the financial sector. According to the Holway Report the CRM market will be worth £350m by the end of 2000 and will rise to £1.8bn by 2005.