In this year's survey, customers of local phone companies rated their providers based on 12 metrics, including access to customer service and value of service provided. BellSouth ranked first in 10 out of 12 customer satisfaction categories. BellSouth excelled in the categories of customer service and problem resolution and truly distinguished itself in the areas of trustworthiness and customer loyalty. SBC ranks in second place this year.
"Customer satisfaction rankings are even more critical now than before, given the competitive nature of voice services, the declining market for local voice, and the reality of wireless displacement," says Aurica Yen, Consumer Technologies & Services senior analyst. "The incumbent local exchange carriers cannot afford to ignore dissatisfied customers. The RBOCs have to maintain and improve customer satisfaction metrics, as they defend themselves against strong competitive players, including AT&T and cable providers now offering telephony services."
These customer satisfaction ratings are discussed at length in a recently released Yankee Group research note. The research note, available to clients of the Yankee Group's Consumer Technologies & Services planning service, also examines the video and long distance provider categories and compares results from 2001 and 2002.
THE YANKEE GROUP (www.yankeegroup.com)
Aurica Yen, ayen@yankeegroup.com.
Kim Vranas, kvranas@yankeegroup.com, 617/880-0214
BellSouth Ranks First in Local Customer Satisfaction,
According to the Yankee Group's Technologically Advanced Family Survey
Business Wire; Dec 23, 2002