Temkin Group Research

2012 Research Reports

Data Snapshot: Communications and Media Benchmark. April 2012 ($195)

This report examines the media consumption and communications patterns of 10,000 U.S. consumers.it contains 23 data charts that cover topics such as the hours per day consumers spend on TV, radio, and the Internet, their use of social media sites Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, their use of mobile websites and mobile apps, and their preferred ways to contact friends. This data snapshot also examines the differences in these media and communications patterns across age groups of consumers.

The ROI of Customer Experience. March 2012 ($195)

An analysis of US and UK consumers shows that customer experience is highly correlated to loyalty. Customer experience leaders have more than a 16 percentage point advantage over customer experience laggards in consumers’ willingness to buy more, their reluctance to switch business away, and their likelihood to recommend. A modest increase in customer experience can result in a gain over three years of up to $382 million for US companies and up to £263 million for UK firms, depending on the industry. While the case for loyalty is compelling, companies should determine the business impact that customer experience has on their specific business by following our five step process. To achieve these results, however, companies must create customer experience metrics programs that embed these measurments into how they run their business.

2012 Temkin Loyalty Ratings. March 2012 ($195)

Sam’s Club, Aldi, and USAA earned the top spots in the 2012 Temkin Loyalty Ratings while Citigroup (banking and credit cards) and Charter Communications (TV service and Internet service) each show up twice in the bottom four. We asked 10,000 U.S. consumers to rate their loyalty to companies across three dimensions: likely to recommend, reluctant to switch, and willing to repurchase. Their responses allowed us to rate the loyalty of customers to 206 companies across 18 industries. One-quarter of companies have “strong” or “very strong” ratings while 50% have “weak” or “very weak” ratings. At an industry level, grocery chains and retailers have the most loyal customers while internet service providers and TV service providers have the least loyal customers. USAA has the most loyal customers across three industries, banking, insurance, and credit cards. When comparing the results from the 2011 and 2012 Temkin Loyalty Ratings, we find that PNC and USAA improved the most and Kohl’s and Hyatt declined the most.

Data Snapshot: Tech Vendors: Benchmarking Product and Relationship Satisfaction of IT Clients. March 2012 ($295)

During January 2012, 800 IT professionals from companies with at least $500 million in annual revenues rated the products of and their relationships with 60 tech vendors. Some of the findings include: Intel dominates in product flexibility, Cisco leads in product features, Compuware’s product features are severely lacking, Google has a big lead in cost of ownership, Intel dominates in product flexibility, Apple leads in innovation, and Wipro is far behind in technical support.

Data Snapshot: Customer Experience Expectations and Plans For 2012. February 2012 ($195)

In November and December of 2011, Temkin Group surveyed 210 respondents from companies with $500 million or more in annual revenues about their customer experience results in 2011 and their plans for 2012 and beyond. The results from that survey are compared with results to a similar survey we completed in the same timeframe in 2010. The results highlight a continued strong ambition and commitment to customer experience and an increase in customer experience management activities in 2012.

Data Snapshot: Consumer Channel Preferences. February 2012 ($195)

As part of Temkin Group’s Q4 2011 Consumer Benchmark Survey, we asked 5,000 U.S. consumers about their contact preferences regarding 11 common interactions such as updating one’s address or resolving technical problems with electronics. This data snapshot looks at how many consumers prefer to contact companies by phone, self-service, online chat, or by visiting a brick-and-mortar store. The data also compare differences across seven age groups of consumers.

2012 Temkin Experience Ratings. February 2012 (FREE)

Sam’s Club and Publix earned the top two spots in the 2012 Temkin Experience Rankings, with three fast food chains rounding out the top five. We asked 10,000 U.S. consumers to rate their recent interactions with companies across three dimensions of their experience: functional, accessible, and emotional. Their responses allowed us to rate 206 companies across 18 industries. Only 28% of those companies received at least a “good” rating. Grocery chains earned the highest average scores and health plans dominated the bottom of the ratings. Kaiser Permanente and credit unions most outperformed their industries while DHL and RadioShack fell the farthest behind their peers. None of the companies earned an “excellent” rating for the emotional component, while Charter Communications and Earthlink lead 10 companies falling below the “very poor” threshold in that area. Compared with last year’s ratings, most industries improved, led by a 5.3 point average increase by insurance carriers. When it comes to changes over the past year by individual firms, PNC and Lenovo improved the most while Regions Bank had the sharpest decline.

The State of the Customer Experience Profession, 2012. February 2012 ($195)

We surveyed 327 customer experience (CX) professionals and compared their responses to a survey from last year. It turns out that CX professionals are happy with their profession and remain satisfied with their jobs. A larger percentage of CX professionals think that their management team is committed to CX. The largest area of focus for these professionals is customer service and voice of the customer programs. Eighty percent of respondents think that CX will be even more important for their firm this year, although that’s slightly down from last year. We also compared responses between CX executives and other CX professionals. The executives feel more appreciated, are less likely to look for a new job, and see more changes coming in the future.

2012 Temkin Experience Ratings of Tech Vendors January 2012 ($295)

To understand the customer experience delivered by IT vendors, we surveyed 800 IT professionals from large companies. Using their feedback on the functional, accessible, and emotional components of experiences with vendors, we created the 2012 Temkin Experience Ratings for Tech Vendors which rates 60 large IT suppliers by their customers. Microsoft business applications, Cisco, IBM SPSS, and Microsoft servers were at the top of the list with “excellent” ratings. At the other end of the spectrum, Compuware, Capgemini, and Fujitsu were at the bottom of nine companies with “very poor” ratings. Our research also looked at the 2012 purchase plans for these IT buyers. When we chart the Temkin Experience Ratings for Tech Vendors with the purchase momentum for these 60 firms, it shows the clear connection between customer experience and revenues.

Employee Engagement Benchmark Study January 2012 ($195)

Employee engagement is one of the four customer experience core competencies and it’s the one that companies tend to struggle with the most. To examine this critical area, we surveyed more than 2,400 U.S. employees. Here are some highlights of the findings: only 40% of employees are fully committed to helping their companies succeed, 54% will do something good for the company even if it’s not expected, and 26% are likely to look for a new job within six months. We also introduced the Temkin Employee Engagement Index (TEEI) based on how employees feel about three areas: understanding the company mission, feeling that their feedback is valued, and having the required training and tools. Using the TEEI, we found that only 31% of employees are highly engaged. These highly engaged employees are a real asset; they’re 5.8 times more committed to helping their companies succeed and 4.7 times more likely to recommend that someone apply for a job at their company. It turns out that companies with good customer experience have 2.5 times more engaged employees than companies with poor customer experience.

Data Snapshot: Social Media And Mobile Adoption January 2012 ($195)

As part of Temkin Group’s Q4 2011 Consumer Benchmark Survey, we asked 5,000 U.S. consumers about their social media and mobile activities. This data snapshot looks at how many consumers perform activities such as update their status on Facebook, send a tweet, read an online product review, or invite someone to join their LinkedIn network. The data also shows how frequently they do these activities and the differences across seven age groups of consumers.

2012 Temkin Experience Ratings UK January 2012 (FREE)

John Lewis and Waitrose tied for first in the 2012 Temkin Experience Rankings UK, with several other grocery stores and Amazon.com rounding out the top ten. We asked 3,000 British consumers to rate their recent interactions with companies across three dimensions of their experience: functional, accessible, and emotional. These data allowed us to rate 66 companies across seven industries. Only two of those companies received an “excellent” rating, while 26% fell in the “good” category. The results show that retailers and grocery stores deliver the best experience while personal computer manufacturers and insurance companies provide the worst.

Data Snapshot: Who Prefers Service Over Price? January 2012 (FREE)

We asked 5,000 U.S. consumers whether they would prefer low prices or good service when doing business with 14 types of companies. It turns out that consumers prefer low prices in every industry except for banks and computers. Our analysis looked at differences across age, income, ethnic, and educational levels of consumers. Some of our findings: life insurance is the most age-dependent, low income leads to price preference, blacks have the most preference for good service, and higher education leads to a preference for service.

2011 Research Reports

State of CX Metrics, 2011, November 2011 ($195)

Companies know that it’s important to use customer experience (CX) metrics and many are already getting value from those efforts. To understand what companies are doing in this area, we surveyed more than 200 large organizations. Companies use a wide range of different metrics with varied results. They track customer service, satisfaction, and phone experiences fairly well. On the other hand, they’re not very effective at measuring customers across the lifecycle, the emotional response of customers, or cross-channel interactions. When it comes to how they run their businesses, companies haven’t integrated CX metrics into their decision making or operational processes. In only 41% of firms, for instance, do execs look at CX metrics more frequently than once per quarter. Using Temkin Group’s four-question assessment, we found that only 10% of firms have good CX metrics programs, and they deliver better customer experience.

2011 Temkin Trust Ratings, October 2011 ($195)

We asked 6,000 U.S. consumers how much they trust different companies. The data allowed us to rate 143 companies across 12 industries. USAA and Amazon.com earned the top spots in the 2011 Temkin Trust Ratings while Comcast and Charter Communications dominate the bottom of the list. Only eight companies earned a “very strong” rating. Retailers, investment firms, and hotel chains have the highest average rating, while Internet service provider and TV service providers have the lowest.

The State Of Voice Of The Customer Programs, 2011, September 2011 ($195)

Voice of the customer (VoC) programs are a popular customer experience management tool. We surveyed 192 large companies about their VoC programs and found that most of these efforts are successful. Typical programs employ three to five full-time employees and are not yet using social media or mobile channels. The respondents completed Temkin Group’s VoC Maturity Assessment, which gauges the effectiveness of these programs in six areas: Detect, Disseminate, Diagnose, Discuss, Design, and Deploy. The results show that only 2% of companies have reached the highest level of maturity. We recommend that companies use the assessment tool and data included in the report to benchmark their own maturity level and identify areas for improvement.

2011 Temkin Customer Service Ratings, August 2011 ($195)

USAA and Edward Jones took the top spots in the 2011 Temkin Customer Service Ratings. We asked 6,000 US consumers to rate their recent customer service experience. This data allowed us to rate 129 companies across 12 industries. Only 12 of those companies received a “strong” customer service rating. Retailers, hotel chains, and investment firms have the highest average rating, while Internet and TV Service Providers are squarely at the bottom of the ratings. To improve customer service, companies should look at the experience holistically, using Temkin Group’s SLICE-B methodology.

The PC Buying Experience, 2011, July 2011 ($195)

Computers have become a standard appliance in most households, but why aren’t they easy to buy? This report analyzes the buying process of 842 US consumers that have recently purchased a computer. Apple is the leader across the buying experience but Dell and HP are not far behind. This report compares the customer satisfaction of the leading computer suppliers in five stages of the consumers buying process. It also examines influences and decision factors on the consumer buying decision by major PC manufacturer. Key findings are that Apple consumers care more about customer service than PC buyers, consumers that buy PCs directly from the manufacturer are more satisfied than those that buy at a retailer and Best Buy employees are more helpful than those at other retailers.

2011 Temkin Web Experience Ratings, June 2011 ($195)

Amazon.com, Regions, and USAA took the top spots in the 2011 Temkin Web Experience Ratings. We asked 6,000 US consumers to rate their recent online experience. This data allowed us to rate 119 companies across 12 industries. Only 7% of those companies received a “good” or “very good” Web Experience rating. While there is some diversity at the top of the ratings, TV service providers, Internet service providers, and health plans dominate the bottom of the list. To improve the online experience, companies need to master the entire experience, examining what Temkin Group calls SLICE-B.

Social Media’s Limited Affect On Purchase Decisions, June 2011 ($195)

What affect does social media have on purchase decisions? We examined this question using a survey of 6,000 US consumers. Based on their responses, we calculated the Temkin Purchase Influence Index (TPII) to gauges the level of influence that these channels have on the purchase and selection decisions of computers, cell phones, TVs, insurance, health plans, and credit cards. While the overall results show very few areas where social media has a strong influence on these purchases, a deeper analysis of consumers by age, income, ethnicity, and education uncovers pockets of stronger (and weaker) social media influence.

2011 Temkin Forgiveness Ratings, May 2011 ($195)

USAA, Costco, and Amazon.com took the top spots in the 2011 Temkin Forgiveness Ratings. We asked 6,000 US consumers how likely they were to forgive companies if they made a mistake. This data allowed us to rate 143 companies across 12 industries. Only 18% of those companies received a “strong” or “very strong” forgiveness rating. The results show that retailers have the highest level of goodwill while credit card issuers and TV service providers have the lowest. While all companies make mistakes, customers are more willing to give Forgiveness Ratings leaders a second chance.

The State Of Customer Experience Management, 2011, May 2011 ($195)

Temkin Group surveyed more than 200 large companies about their customer experience efforts. While 7% of respondents think that their company is a customer experience leader today, 61% want to be their industry leader within three years. More than half of these companies have an executive in charge of their customer experience activities. A big component of those efforts include voice of the (VoC) programs that overwhelmingly deliver positive business results. We also asked companies to complete Temkin Group’s customer experience competency assessment. Only 3% of firms have reached the highest level of maturity. But there’s good news. Over the last year, companies have improved in all four areas of customer experience competencies: Purposeful Leadership, Compelling Brand Values, Employee Engagement, and Customer Connectedness.

The Customer Experience-Loyalty Connection, May 2011 ($195)

Temkin Group analyzed the correlation between customer experience and loyalty across 12 industries: airlines, banks, credit card issuers, health plans, hotel chains, insurance carriers, Internet service providers, investment firms, computer makers, retailers, TV service providers, and wireless carriers. Customer experience leaders enjoy a double-digit advantage in customers willing to buy more from them, reluctant to switch business away from them, and likely to recommend them. A modest improvement in customer experience can drive between $179 million (for health plans) and $308 million (for hotel chains) of incremental revenue over three years for every $1 billion in annual sales.

2011 Temkin Loyalty Ratings, April 2011 ($195)

Amazon.com, Kohl’s, and Costco took the top spots in the 2011 Temkin Loyalty Ratings. We asked 6,000 US consumers to rate their level of loyalty to companies across three components: purchasing additional products and services, reluctance to switch business away, and likelihood to recommend the company to friends and relatives. This data allowed us to rate 143 companies across 12 industries. Only 17% of those companies received a “strong” or “very strong” loyalty rating. The results show that retailers have the highest level of loyalty while TV service providers and health plans have the lowest.

Voice Of The Customer Programs Grow Up, April 2011 ($195)

Voice of the customer (VoC) programs are critical components of customer experience initiatives. And they should be; they work. Most companies report solid business results from these efforts. Temkin Group’s research shows, however, that most VoC programs are in the very early stages of maturity. To reach the next level of evolution, these programs must improve across what we call the Six Ds of closed-loop VoC programs: Detect, Disseminate, Diagnose, Discuss, Design, and Deploy. As large companies gain VoC maturity, they will increasingly require higher levels of automation found in Customer Insight and Action (CIA) platforms. To remain relevant in this changing environment, market research organizations will need to change how they operate.

2011 Temkin Experience Ratings, March 2011 (FREE)

Amazon.com, Kohl’s, Costco, Lowe’s, and Sam’s Club took the top five spots in the 2011 Temkin Experience Ratings. We asked 6,000 US consumers to rate their recent interactions with companies across three dimensions of their experience: functional, accessible, and emotional. This data allowed us to rate 143 companies across 12 industries. Only 16% of those companies received an “excellent” or “good” rating. The results show that retailers deliver the best experience while TV service providers and health plans deliver the worst.

How Consumers Give Feedback, March 2011 ($195)

Companies often discuss “word of mouth,” but how often and in what ways do consumers discuss their experiences? We surveyed 6,000 US consumers to find out. It turns out that the most common communication about good and bad experiences occurs between friends via email, phone, or in person. While few consumers share their experiences directly with the companies that pleased or displeased them, far fewer shared those experiences via social media channels such as Facebook, Twitter, and 3rd party ratings sites. Our analysis also uncovered differences by age, income, ethnicity, and educational levels. We analyzed the customer bases of more than 140 companies and discovered that Days Inn, E*Trade, and Apple were the most susceptible to negative feedback via Facebook. Days Inn, Courtyard By Marriott, and Hyatt are the most susceptible via Twitter.

Locating A Store On The Phone Is Not Always Easy, February 2011 ($195)

When traveling in an unfamiliar area, calling a store’s toll-free number can be a convenient way to locate the closest branch or store location. How user-friendly are these phone-based store locators? We used Temkin Group’s SLICE-B methodology to evaluate the experiences at five large banks (Bank of America, Chase, Citibank, USBank, and Wells Fargo) and five large retailers (Home Depot, Kroger, Target, Walgreens, and Walmart). Target was the only store to receive an “Excellent” overall rating, with 23 out of a possible 24 points. Citibank and Walgreens, on the other hand, scored in the “Poor” range. Stores lost points for offering voice-activated search without touch-tone support and for accepting only one criteria to search by, usually a zip code.

Online Experiences For Buying Gift Cards Need Work, January 2011 ($195)

Gift cards are a popular choice for consumers, especially around the holidays. Almost all major stores and restaurants sell them online. How user-friendly are those online purchasing processes? To answer this question, we used Temkin Group’s SLICE-B methodology to evaluate the experience of 12 large companies: three grocers (Kroger, Publix, and Safeway), three electronics retailers (Apple, Best Buy, and Radio Shack), three department stores (J.C. Penney, Kohl’s, and Macy’s), and three restaurant chains (Applebee’s, Chili’s, and Outback Steakhouse). Outback Steakhouse and Radio Shack were the only sites to receive an “excellent” rating. At the other end of the spectrum, Safeway, Chili’s, Kroger, and Best Buy were at the bottom with “mediocre” ratings. Many of the sites lacked key functionality such as free shipping, sending the cards at a later date, and sending multiple cards in a single order.

Customer Experience Accelerates In 2011, January 2011 ($195)

To understand what’s on the plate for customer experience in 2011, we surveyed more than 170 large organizations about their 2010 activities and 2011 plans. Most respondents are satisfied with their customer experience roles and have a strong outlook for improvements at their company. More than eight out of 10 respondents think that customer experience will be more important in 2011 than it was in 2010. Social media, the Web, and customer-centric culture are set to receive the most increased attention this year. We also examined the anatomy of successful customer experience programs and found that they plan more and use customer feedback and insight more effectively than other firms.

2010 Research Reports

Eight Customer Experience Megatrends, Updated on December 2010 (FREE)

Customer experience management is still in its early stages of evolution. As people, processes, and technologies evolve, they will alter the way that companies deal with customers. This paper identifies eight of those trends that will reshape customer experience management over the next three to five years. It also provides specific observations about hw these multi-year trends will play out in 2011.

Online Store Locators Miss A Key Part Of The Experience, December 2010 ($195)

Just about every bank and retailer provides a store or branch locator on its site. But how user-friendly are the experiences? Mostly mediocre. Temkin Group evaluated 10 large retailers and banks using its SLICE-B experience review methodology. Wells Fargo ended with the only “excellent” rating and Target was alone at the bottom with a “poor” rating. All of the sites struggle to support user’s goals after they find the nearby stores.

The State Of Voice Of The Customer (VoC) Programs, October 2010 ($195)

This report looks at the make-up of 119 VoC programs at large companies across geographic regions, feedback channels, executive involvement, effectiveness of different activities, obstacles to success, and plans for 2011. We also examine results from the Temkin Group’s VoC Program Maturity Assessment that was completed by 105 of these firms. It turns out that only 1% of the firms reached our highest maturity level, “Transformers.” To understand how VoC programs differ by size of an organization, we compared survey responses between large and small companies. The number of companies planning to increase spending dwarfs those that are planning to cut back, so 2011 should be an active year for VoC programs.

Assessing The Maturity of Voice Of The Customer Programs, October 2010 (FREE)

Voice of the customer (VoC) programs are becoming a common element of customer experience programs. But how effective are they? To address this question, Temkin Group developed an assessment tool to identify the level of maturity of VoC programs. In a recent Temkin Group study, almost 200 companies completed this assessment. The findings: two-thirds of programs are in the earliest stages of development, while only 5% have reached the highest maturity level. Temkin Group recommends that companies take the self-test and discuss the results with their management teams.

Profiling Customer Experience Leaders, September 2010 ($195)

Using the Temkin Group (TG) customer experience competency model, we found that only 3% of large North American firms were what we call “Customer-Centric Organizations.” We used the TG competency model to break respondents into two groups, 60 leaders and 80 laggards, and examined the differences in their responses across various dimensions. Some of the areas with striking gaps between the two groups: focus on creating a customer-centric culture, priority for cost-cutting, ability to delight customers across all channels, success with Net Promoter Scores, use of text analytics, and obstacles they run into.

The Evolution Of Voice Of The Customer Programs, September 2010 ($195)

Voice of the customer (VoC) programs are often key components of customer experience efforts and most companies report positive results from these efforts. To thrive, these programs need closed-loop processes in four areas: Listen, Interpret, Respond, and Monitor. As VoC programs evolve, they often outgrow manual processes and existing market research programs. Companies should consider deploying what Temkin Group calls Customer Insight and Action (CIA) platforms that automate the collection, analysis, and workflow associated with closed-loop VoC programs across multiple channels. To aid in that effort, Temkin Group has assembled information on 11 vendors that provide CIA platforms.

The Current State Of Customer Experience, June 2010 ($195)

Using the Temkin Group customer experience competency model, we found that only 3% of firms were “Customer-Centric Organizations” while 33% of firms were “Customer-Oblivious Organizations.” While companies rated highest in the area of Purposeful Leadership, only 16% received “very good” ratings in that competency area. This data highlights that companies are still in very early stages of customer experience maturity. We expect the results to improve over time; as 65% of respondents want to be customer experience leaders within three years.

The Four Customer Experience Core Competencies, June 2010 (FREE)

Organizations that want to become customer experience leaders need to master four customer experience competencies: Purposeful Leadership, Employee Engagement, Compelling Brand Values, and Customer Connectedness. Gauge how close your company is to being a Customer-Centric Organization using Temkin Group’s competency model to identify strengths and weaknesses.