Busy customers want hard cash savings before accepting utilities sales calls

New research has revealed that a quarter of all British phone, gas, water and electricity customers only want to accept sales calls from their service providers in return for a saving of at least forty pounds per year.

The survey - undertaken by MORI on behalf of business consulting, information technology and outsourcing company, Xansa, among a representative sample of 1,953 people - showed that 26% of respondents required a saving of at least 16340 saving on their bill to take a call. Over a quarter (27%) of respondents would not accept sales calls in their free time no matter what savings were offered and 13% require a saving of at least 16370 per annum to make the calls worth taking. Only 5% were prepared to accept sales calls whatever the saving.

Other key findings from the study include:

• Customers prefer traditional communications channels. 56% of respondents want to receive information about special offers in writing - via flyers or leaflets enclosed in their bills. Only 13% said they preferred telephone contact. E-mail was chosen by only 5% of respondents.
• 77% of those interviewed were concerned that their personal information would be passed on to other companies - with 53% admitting to being very concerned about data being passed to other suppliers.
• 36% of respondents consider after sales or courtesy calls annoying, compared with 18% who find them helpful.
• Only one in ten respondents perceived special offers to be in their own best interests. The majority (65%) believed that utility companies had the most to gain from these offers.
• Less than one in ten (8%) of respondents supply utility companies with inaccurate personal information.

John Hutchinson, Principal CRM Consultant at Xansa says that the findings are evidence that alternatives to sales calls should be considered strongly. "The success of a sales campaign is often measured in uptake and this is perhaps the reason so many companies persist with this approach. If one in ten people signs up for a special offer then the company is one step closer to meeting its sales target. But the potential damage to the relationship with the other nine customers should not be ignored."

He says that utilising emerging channels such as the Internet and interactive TV to build a brand and 'shopfront' is an excellent method of instilling loyalty in customers. "Products like water, gas, electricity and phone services are largely taken for granted by customers and it can be difficult to create brand loyalty. Creating a recognisable identity for your company is one way around this. Another is to sell services under an existing, recognisable brand as we saw recently with ScottishPower teaming up with Sainsbury."

Hutchinson concludes that there is no blanket solution to attracting new customers. "The fact that 90 percent of respondents supply truthful information is encouraging because it means that companies have access to quality data which should allow them to segment their customer base effectively and develop focussed marketing campaigns for each of these."

ENDS

Note to Editors:

About the survey:

The study was conducted by MORI among a nationally representative quota sample of 1,953 adults. Interviews were conducted face-to-face in respondents' homes between 23 - 28 August 2001.

About Xansa:

Xansa is a company that transforms the business capability of its clients by harnessing knowledge of selected industries and business processes with proven skills in applying technology. The company has three key areas of expertise: Business Consultancy, Information Technology and Outsourcing and operates in the UK, North America, Continental Europe, India and Asia-Pacific. Xansa is listed on the London Stock Exchange under the code XAN.