Face-to-face sales still better than online or call centres
A new study shows that face-to-face contact in sales still delivers better than online or call centres, especially on products that require explanation or which represent a more significant investment.
The announcement:
KEY TO MAKING THE SALE IS GETTING THE BALANCE RIGHT BETWEEN ONLINE AND BRANCH
Face-to-face branch contact still delivers the advantage when making the sale over online and call centres according to recent research.
Whilst online has dramatically lowered cost to serve and is transforming many markets, this research shows that branches still deliver the competitive advantage for a wide range of services. It also shows that call centres are the underperformers when it comes to taking the consumer from information through to quotation and final sale.
The study, conducted by research based insight consultancy INSIDE STORY Knowledge Management, asked consumers about the channels they use to find information, to source quotes and to buy products and services. It covered seven service sectors including airlines, credit cards, mobile telecommunications and superannuation.
The results suggest that personalised advice and service from someone in a company branch or service centre stands out as critical in many purchase situations – especially for personal banking, mortgages and credit cards and also in mobile telecommunications. Branch conversion rates from quotation to sale were around 45% higher than for the company’s website which was also highly effective in many categories. Call centre conversion rates were very much lower than branches and also markedly lower than websites.
According to Liane Ringham, INSIDE STORY’s Managing Director, face-to-face becomes more important when consumers are dealing with products that require explanation, or which represent a more significant investment for them: “For example, we all know the products and offers in the mobile space are very detailed and a mortgage is a long term commitment, so to have a service representative on hand to help you understand what you‟re getting can be very reassuring.”
“Person-to-person contact in branches can deliver advice and may also contain a social obligation which is making a significant difference to sales conversion. Over the phone, the social pressure is much less and the customer is less likely to make an “on the spot” decision. So when it comes to that final commitment to buy, the level of service and expertise offered in a branch can make all the difference in terms of conversion to a sale in some categories”, says Ringham. “We should also point out that this study was conducted online, so to see the prominence of branches in this context is also quite telling.”
Further results indicate the importance of online for information search and for seeking quotes. This is the case across all categories investigated, although it is more prominent in some, for example broadband internet services and airlines.
“Whilst many businesses will continue to look at migrating customers to 100% self serve solutions to reduce their service costs, the emphasis needs to be on getting the balance just right for your business and your market position. The dispositions and economics are clearly category dependent.” says Liane Ringham.
The study was a nationally representative online survey among 546 consumers conducted in September 2011.
Source: The Guides press release
