Report: Tech Vendors: Product and Relationship Satisfaction, 2017

We just published a Temkin Group data snapshot, Tech Vendors: Product and Relationship Satisfaction of IT Clients, 2017.

During Q3 of 2016, we surveyed 800 IT decision-makers from companies with at least $250 million in annual revenues, asking them to rate both the products of and their relationships with 62 different tech vendors. HPE outsourcing, Google, and IBM SPSS earned the top overall scores, while Trend Micro, Infosys, and SunGard received the lowest overall scores. To determine their product rating, we evaluated tech vendors across four product/service criteria: features, quality, flexibility, and ease of use. And we calculated their relationship rating using four different criteria: technical support, support of the account team, cost of ownership, and innovation of company. We also looked at how the average product and relationship scores of tech vendors have changed over the previous three years.

This research has a report (.pdf) and a dataset (excel). The dataset has the details of Product/Service and Relationship satisfaction for the 62 tech vendors as well as for several tech vendors with sample sizes too small to be included in the published report.

Download report for $495
(includes Excel spreadsheet with data)

Here’s a link to last year’s study.

The research examines eight areas of satisfaction; four that deal with products & services and four that examine relationships. Tech vendors earned the highest average satisfaction level for product features (64%) and the lowest for total cost of ownership (57%).

As you can see in the chart below, the overall product/service & relationship satisfaction ranges from a high of 76% for HPE outsourcing down to a low of 42% for Trend Micro.

Tech Vendor Client Success Ratings, 2016

Are tech vendors helpful in making their IT clients successful? To answer that question, we surveyed 800 IT decision makers from North American companies with at least $250 million in annual revenues.

We asked the following question:

“How helpful are these IT vendors in making sure that your organization successfully achieves its desired value from the products and services that you have purchased from them?“

Responses are on a scale from 1 (not at all helpful) to 7 (extremely helpful).Temkin Group created the Client Success Ratings (CSR), which is the percentage of respondents who answered 6 or 7.  As you can see below, the average CSR is 63%, which is an increase from 61% last year.

Which tech vendors are the best and the worst? We examined client responses for 62 tech vendors and found that IBM software, Google, IBM SPSS, VMware, and HPE outsourcing have the highest CSR. At the other end of the spectrum, Trend Micro, Accenture outsourcing, Sun Microsystems, and Satyam have the lowest CSR.

You can purchase and download the dataset for $295.The dataset includes the detailed client success ratings for the 62 tech vendors listed in the graphic above, along with the results from 2015.

Report: 2016 Temkin Experience Ratings of Tech Vendors

We just published a Temkin Group report 2016 Temkin Experience Ratings of Tech Vendors that rates the customer experience of 62 large tech vendors based on a survey of 800 IT decision makers from large North American firms. This is the fifth year of the ratings, here are links to the 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015 ratings.

Here is the executive summary of the report:

The 2016 Temkin Experience Ratings of Tech Vendors evaluates the customer experience of 62 large technology vendors. We surveyed 800 IT decision-makers from large companies regarding three components – success, effort, and emotion – of their experiences with these IT providers. Out of all the vendors we looked at, HPE outsourcing, IBM SPSS, and Google earned the highest ratings, while Capgemini, Infosys, and Accenture received the lowest ratings. The average score for the Ratings dropped by one percentage-point over the past year, down from 59% in 2015 to 58% this year. Furthermore, our research shows that the Temkin Experience Ratings are strongly correlated with multiple elements of loyalty behavior, including likelihood of repurchasing from the company, likelihood of recommending the company, likelihood of trying new products, and likelihood of forgiving the company if it makes a mistake.

This product has a report (.pdf) and a dataset (excel). The dataset has the details of the 2016 Temkin Experience Ratings, including all three components, for the 62 tech vendors as well as data on customers’ likelihood to repurchase from the vendors, their 2016 Temkin Forgiveness Ratings, and their 2016 Temkin Innovation Equity Quotient. It also includes a summary of the 2015 Temkin Experience Ratings, likelihood to repurchase, and Temkin Forgiveness Ratings.

Download for $695, includes report (.pdf) and data file (.xls)

The Temkin Experience Ratings of Tech Vendors evaluates three areas of customer experience: success (can customers achieve what they want to do), effort (how easy is it for customers to do what they want to do), and emotion (how do customers feel about their interaction). Here are the overall results:

Report: Tech Vendor NPS Benchmark, 2016 (B2B)

We just published a Temkin Group report, Tech Vendor NPS Benchmark, 2016, The research examines Net Promoter Scores and the link to loyalty for 62 tech vendors based on feedback from 800 IT decision makers in large North American organizations. We also compared overall results to our benchmarks from the previous four years. Here’s the executive summary:

For the fifth year in a row, we examined the link between Net Promoter Scores® (NPS®) and loyalty for technology vendors. We surveyed 800 IT decision-makers from large North American firms to learn about their relationships with their technology providers. Of the 62 tech vendors we evaluated, IBM, HPE outsourcing, IBM SPSS, and VMware earned the highest NPS, while Cognizant, Capgemini, and Infosys received the lowest. Overall, the average NPS for the tech vendor industry decreased by almost 2 percentage points from last year. Our analysis shows that promoters are much more likely than detractors to increase their spending with tech vendors, try new products and services when they are announced, and forgive tech vendors after a bad experience. We also found that Software AG and HPE outsourcing are the top companies for purchase momentum, while IBM SPSS, IBM software, and IBM outsourcing have the highest Temkin Innovation Equity Quotient, and HPE outsourcing and IBM SPSS are at the top of the Temkin Forgiveness Ratings.

The report includes graphics with data for NPS, purchase intentions, likelihood to forgive, and likelihood to try a new offering. The excel spreadsheet includes this data (in more detail) for the 62 companies as well as for other tech vendors with less than 40 pieces of feedback. It also includes the summary NPS scores from 2015.

Download report for $695
(includes Excel spreadsheet with data)

As you can see in the chart below, the NPS ranges from a high of 61 for IBM software down to  a low of -10 for Cognizant IT services.

The industry average NPS decreased to 29.9 this year. The research also includes data for Purchase Momentum (how much customers are planning to buy), Temkin Forgiveness Ratings (likelihood of customers to forgive after a bad experience), and Temkin Innovation Equity Quotient (likelihood of customer to try a new offering). We not only list the results for each company, but we also show that NPS is highly correlated to each of these items (as you can see below for Purchase Momentum).

Report details: When you purchase this research, you will receive a written report and an excel spreadsheet with more data. The report includes graphics with data for NPS, purchase momentum, Temkin Forgiveness Ratings, and Temkin Innovation Equity Quotient for the 62 tech vendors that had at least 40 pieces of feedback. The excel spreadsheet includes this data (in more detail) for the 62 companies as well as for other tech vendors with less than 40 pieces of feedback. It also includes the summary NPS scores from 2015. If you want to know more about the data file, download this SAMPLE SPREADSHEET without the data (.xls).

Download report for $695
(includes Excel spreadsheet with data)

Note: See our 2015 NPS benchmark, 2014 NPS benchmark, 2013 NPS benchmark and 2012 NPS benchmark for tech vendors as well as our page full of NPS resources.

P.S. Net Promoter Score, Net Promoter, and NPS are registered trademarks of Bain & Company, Satmetrix Systems, and Fred Reichheld.

Report: Tech Vendors: Product and Relationship Satisfaction, 2016

We just published a Temkin Group data snapshot, Tech Vendors: Product and Relationship Satisfaction of IT Clients, 2016.

During Q3, 2015, 800 IT professionals from companies with at least $250 million in annual revenues rated both the products of and their relationships with 62 tech vendors. The research examines satisfaction with eight areas: product/service features, product/service quality, product/service flexibility, product/service ease of use, technical support, support of the account team, cost of ownership, and innovation of company. Some of the findings include that Intel, Google, and HP outsourcing earned the highest overall satisfaction ratings, while Unisys, Sage, and Cognizant IT services earned the lowest. When it comes to product satisfaction, Intel leads in product features, Apple and IBM IT services lead in product quality, Google leads in product flexibility, and NetApp leads in product ease of use. When it comes to relationship satisfaction, HP outsourcing leads in tech support and in cost of ownership, Intel leads in account team support, and Google leads in innovation.

This product has a report (.pdf) and a dataset (excel). The dataset has the details of Product/Service and Relationship satisfaction for the 62 tech vendors as well as for several tech vendors with sample sizes too small to be included in the published report.

Download report for $495
(includes Excel spreadsheet with data)

As you can see in the chart below, the overall product/service & relationship satisfaction ranges from a high of 74% for Intel down to a low of 46% for Unisys.

The chart below shows the average scores across all satisfaction criteria. Tech vendors scored the highest in innovation (64%) and the lowest in cost of ownership (56%).

Report details: When you purchase this research, you will receive a written data snapshot and an excel spreadsheet with more data.The dataset has the details of Product/Service and Relationship satisfaction for the 62 tech vendors as well as for several tech vendors with sample sizes too small to be included in the published report. If you want to know more about the data file, download this SAMPLE SPREADSHEET without the data (.xls).

Download report for $495
(includes Excel spreadsheet with data)

Tech Vendor Client Success Ratings

Are tech vendors helpful in making their IT clients successful? To answer that question, we surveyed 800 IT decision makers from North American companies with at least $250 million in annual revenues.

We asked the following question:

“How helpful are these IT vendors in making sure that your organization successfully achieves its desired value from the products and services that you have purchased from them?“

Responses are on a scale from 1 (not at all helpful) to 7 (extremely helpful).

Temkin Group created the Client Success Ratings (CSR), which is the percentage of respondents who answered 6 or 7. As you can see below, the average CSR is 61%.

Which tech vendors are the best and the worst? We examined client responses for 62 tech vendors and found that IBM software, Intel, IBM SPSS, and IBM outsourcing have the highest CSR. BMC, Deloitte, CSC and Cognizant have the lowest CSR.

You can purchase and download the dataset for $295.The dataset includes the detailed client success ratings for the 62 tech vendors listed in the graphic above.

Report: 2015 Temkin Experience Ratings of Tech Vendors

We just published a Temkin Group report 2015 Temkin Experience Ratings of Tech Vendors that rates the customer experience of 62 large tech vendors based on a survey of 800 IT decision makers from large North American firms. This is the fourth year of the ratings, here are links to the 2012, 2013, and 2014 ratings.

Here is the executive summary of the report:

The 2015 Temkin Experience Ratings of Tech Vendors evaluates the customer experience of 62 large technology vendors. We surveyed 800 IT decision makers from large companies on the success, effort, and emotion components of their experiences with these IT providers. IBM SPSS and Intel earned the top ratings, while Cognizant and BMC were at the other end of the spectrum with the lowest ratings. The average score this year, 59%, represents a six percentage-point increase over last year and is the highest score achieved since the ratings’ inception in 2012. Our research also shows that the Temkin Experience Ratings are strongly correlated with elements of loyalty, such as repurchasing, Net Promoter Score, innovation success, and forgiveness.

This product has a report (.pdf) and a dataset (excel). The dataset has the details of the 2015 Temkin Experience Ratings, including all three components, for the 62 tech vendors as well as data on customers’ likelihood to repurchase from the vendors, their 2015 Temkin Forgiveness Ratings, and their 2015 Temkin Innovation Equity Quotient. It also includes a summary of the 2014 Temkin Experience Ratings, likelihood to repurchase, and Temkin Forgiveness Ratings.

Download for $695, includes report (.pdf) and data file (.xls)

The Temkin Experience Ratings of Tech Vendors evaluates three areas of customer experience: success (can customers achieve what they want to do), effort (how easy is it for customers to do what they want to do), and emotion (how do customers feel about their interaction). Here are the overall results:

Other highlights from the research:

• The top seven firms earned “good” Temkin Experience Ratings, which is a score of 70% or higher. IBM SPSS topped the list with a score of 76%, followed by Intel Corporation with 74%, IBM Software (not SPSS), with72%, and HP Outsourcing with 71%.
• The lowest rated tech vendor is Cognizant with a score of 32%, and it is the only company to earn a rating lower than 40%. Seven other firms have ratings of 45% or below: BMC, Wipro, Hitachi, ADP, Deloitte, Capgemini, and CA Technologies.
• The average Temkin Experience Ratings across all of the tech vendors is 59%, which is jump from 53% last year. It is the also the highest level over the four years of the study.
• Success has the highest average rating of 64%, effort is next at 61%, and emotion has the lowest rating, 52%.
• The analysis shows a high correlation between technology vendors’ customer experience ratings and a number of areas of loyalty. Compared with companies in the bottom quartile of the ratings, tech vendors in the upper quartile have a 15 percentage point advantage in customers who are likely to repurchase from them, a 25 percentage point advantage in the number of customer who are likely to try a new offering right away, a 19 percentage pint advantage in customers who are willing to forgive them if they make a mistake, and a 31 point Net Promoter® Score advantage.

This product has a report (.pdf) and a dataset (excel). The dataset has the details of the 2015 Temkin Experience Ratings, including all three components, for the 62 tech vendors as well as data on customers’ likelihood to repurchase from the vendors, their 2015 Temkin Forgiveness Ratings, and their 2015 Temkin Innovation Equity Quotient. It also includes a summary of the 2014 Temkin Experience Ratings, likelihood to repurchase, and Temkin Forgiveness Ratings.

[Download sample of data file (.xls)]

Download for $695, includes report (.pdf) and data file (.xls)

Report: Tech Vendor NPS Benchmark, 2015 (B2B)

We just published a Temkin Group report, Tech Vendor NPS Benchmark, 2015, The research examines Net Promoter Scores and the link to loyalty for 62 tech vendors based on feedback from IT decision makers in large North American organizations. We also compared overall results to our benchmarks from the previous three years. Here’s the executive summary:

To examine the link between Net Promoter Scores® (NPS®) and loyalty, we surveyed 800 IT decision-makers from large North American firms to learn about their relationships with their technology providers. Of the 62 tech vendors we evaluated, SAS Institute, HP outsourcing, and Intel earned the highest NPS, while Accenture, CA Technologies, and Hitachi received the lowest. Overall, the tech vendor industry’s average NPS jumped to 31.8 in 2015—an increase of more than eight points—after two straight years of declining scores. Our analysis shows that promoters are much more likely than detractors to spend more money with tech vendors, try new products and services when they are announced, and forgive their tech vendors after a bad experience. Our results also revealed that SAS Institute and Cognizant outsourcing were the top companies for purchase momentum, IBM SPSS and Intel have the highest Temkin Innovation Equity Quotient, and HP outsourcing and Intel scored the highest in the Temkin Forgiveness Ratings.

The report includes graphics with data for NPS, purchase intentions, likelihood to forgive, and likelihood to try a new offering. The excel spreadsheet includes this data (in more detail) for the 62 companies as well as for 25 other tech vendors with less than 40 pieces of feedback. It also includes the summary NPS scores from 2014.

Download report for $695
(includes Excel spreadsheet with data)

As you can see in the chart below, the NPS ranges from a high of 57 for SAS Institute down to  a low of 1 for Accenture consulting.

After declining for the past two years, the industry average NPS increased to 31.8 this year, almost reaching the level from our initial study in 2012. The research also includes data for Purchase Momentum (how much customers are planning to buy), Temkin Forgiveness Ratings (likelihood of customers to forgive after a bad experience), and Temkin Innovation Equity Quotient (likelihood of customer to try a new offering). We not only list the results for each company, but we also show that NPS is highly correlated to each of these items (as you can see below for Purchase Momentum).

Report details: When you purchase this research, you will receive a written report and an excel spreadsheet with more data. The report includes graphics with data for NPS, purchase momentum, Temkin Forgiveness Ratings, and Temkin Innovation Equity Quotient for the 62 tech vendors that had at least 40 pieces of feedback. The excel spreadsheet includes this data (in more detail) for the 62 companies as well as for 25 other tech vendors with less than 40 pieces of feedback. It also includes the summary NPS scores from 2014. If you want to know more about the data file, download this SAMPLE SPREADSHEET without the data (.xls).

Download report for $695
(includes Excel spreadsheet with data)

Note: See our 2014 NPS benchmark, 2013 NPS benchmark and 2012 NPS benchmark for tech vendors as well as our page full of NPS resources.

P.S. Net Promoter Score, Net Promoter, and NPS are registered trademarks of Bain & Company, Satmetrix Systems, and Fred Reichheld.

Report: 2014 Temkin Experience Ratings of Tech Vendors

We just published a Temkin Group report 2014 Temkin Experience Ratings of Tech Vendors that rates the customer experience of 62 large tech vendors based on a survey of 802 IT decision makers from large North American firms. Here is the executive summary of the report:

The 2014 Temkin Experience Ratings for Tech Vendors evaluates the customer experience of 62 large technology vendors. We surveyed 800 IT professionals from large companies on the success, effort, and emotion components of their experiences with these IT providers. VMware and Microsoft (for both its servers and business applications divisions) earned the top ratings, but still only ended up on the high end of our “okay” range. At the other end of the spectrum, Wipro and Cognizant were at the bottom of the list, joined by 19 other vendors that also received “very poor” ratings. Our research also shows that the Temkin Experience Ratings are correlated with elements of loyalty, such as repurchasing, forgiveness, trust, and recommendations.

This product has a report (.pdf) and a dataset (.xls). The dataset has the details of the Temkin Experience Ratings (including all three components) for the 62 tech vendors as well as data on each vendor’s likelihood to repurchase, 2014 Temkin Forgiveness Ratings, and 2014 Temkin Trust Ratings.

Download for $695, includes report (.pdf) and data file (.xls)

The Temkin Experience Ratings for Tech Vendors evaluates three areas of customer experience: success (can customers achieve what they want to do), effort (how easy is it for customers to do what they want to do), and emotion (how do customers feel about their interaction). Here are the overall results:

Other highlights from the research:

• The average rating dropped slightly from 53% in 2013 to 52% in 2014, with the effort component declining the most.
• VMware is the only firm that placed in the top five for each of the three components of the ratings, and Wipro is the only firm that place in the bottom five for all three components.
• Report shows a high correlation (R=.8) between the tech vendors’ Temkin Experience Ratings and the likelihood that IT professionals will purchase more products and services from them.
• Companies in the upper quartile of the 2014 Temkin Experience Ratings for Tech Vendors have a 15-point advantage over those in the bottom quartile in the percentage of clients who are likely to repurchase.
• Vendors in the upper quartile of the ratings have an average Net Promoter^® Score more than 24-points higher than those in the bottom quartile.

This product has a report (.pdf) and a dataset (excel). The dataset has the details of the Temkin Experience Ratings, including all three components, for the 62 tech vendors as well as data on each vendor’s likelihood to repurchase, 2014 Temkin Forgiveness Ratings, and 2014 Temkin Trust Ratings. [Download sample of data file (.xls)]

Download for $695, includes report (.pdf) and data file (.xls)

The bottom line: Tech vendors need to improve their customer experience.

Report: Tech Vendor NPS Benchmark, 2014

We just published a Temkin Group report, Tech Vendor NPS Benchmark, 2014, The research examines Net Promoter Scores and the link to loyalty for 63 tech vendors based on feedback from IT decision makers. We also compared overall results to our 2013 NPS benchmark and our 2012 NPS benchmark. Here’s the executive summary:

We surveyed IT decision-makers from more than 800 large North American firms to learn about their relationships with their tech vendors. We asked them a series of questions regarding their experiences as the clients of different tech vendors, and one of the questions we posed generated Net Promoter Scores^® (NPS^®) for the companies. Of the 63 companies we looked at, EDS and VMware earned the highest NPS, while Autodesk and Cognizant received the lowest. The overall industry average NPS dropped for the second year in a row. Our analysis also delved into the correlation between NPS and loyalty, revealing that, compared to severe detractors, promoters are much more likely to spend more money with their tech vendors in 2014, try new products and services when they are announced, and forgive the vendor for a mistake. We compared the loyalty levels for each vendor, and we found that SunGard and IBM software have the most customers planning on increasing their purchases in 2014, while Satyam and EDS customers are the most willing to try new offerings, and Satyam has the most forgiving customers. Our research also shows that promoters are more concerned than detractors about getting lower prices.

Download report for $695 (includes Excel spreadsheet with data)

This is the third year that Temkin Group has completed the NPS study. Over that time, the average NPS in the tech industry has been dropping. NPS in for tech vendors was 33.6 in 2012 and 24.7 in 2013, falling to 23.1 in 2014.

With an NPS of 48, EDS came out with the top score followed closely by VMware with 45. Six other tech vendors received NPS of 35 or more: EMC, Microsoft servers, Oracle outsourcing, Pitney Bowes, Microsoft business applications, and Cisco.

At the other end of the spectrum, three tech vendors have negative NPS: Autodesk, Cognizant, and Wipro. Six other vendors fell below 10: Capgemini, Intuit, ADP outsourcing, CA, Infosys, and HP outsourcing.

The report also examines the link between NPS and loyalty. Our analysis shows that promoters are more than six times likely to forgive a tech vendor if they deliver a bad experience, about seven times as likely to try a new offering from the company, and almost three times as likely to purchase more from them in 2014 than they did in 2013.

In addition to benchmarking NPS, the research measures the loyalty that large companies have for their tech vendors. Respondents have the most plans to increase spending with SunGard, IBM software, Alcatel-Lucent, and ACS. They are most likely to try new offerings from Satyam, EDS, and EMC. And if the tech vendors make a mistake, IT decision makers are most likely to forgive Satyam, EDS, Ericsson, and Alcatel-Lucent. NPS characterizes respondents as Promoters when they are very likely to recommend and Detractors when they are very unlikely to recommend.

Report details: The report includes graphics with data for NPS, 2014 purchase intentions, likelihood to forgive, likelihood to try a new offering, and areas of improvement for the 63 tech vendors that had at least 40 pieces of feedback. The excel spreadsheet includes this data (in more detail) for the 63 companies as well as for 22 other tech vendors with less than 40 pieces of feedback. It also includes the summary NPS scores from 2013. If you want to know more about the data file, download this excel spreadsheet without the data.

Download report for $695 (includes Excel spreadsheet with data)

The bottom line: When it comes to NPS, large tech vendors are heading in the wrong direction

Note: See our 2013 NPS benchmark and 2012 NPS benchmark for tech vendors as well as our page full of NPS resources.

P.S. Net Promoter Score, Net Promoter, and NPS are registered trademarks of Bain & Company, Satmetrix Systems, and Fred Reichheld.

Where’s All The B2B CX Data?

Readers of this blog see a lot of consumer data which we use to rate and benchmark companies. This data shows up in research such as Net Promoter Score Benchmarks, Temkin Experience Ratings, Temkin Forgiveness Ratings, Temkin Customer Service Ratings, and Temkin Trust Ratings.

Almost every time we publish one of these consumer-based studies, I receive some form of the questions: What about B2B (business-to-business)? When will you have that type of data for B2B? Since these questions always seem to come up, I figured it was worthwhile to write a post with my answer.

First of all, we do have B2B data. For the tech sector, we have an NPS benchmark, the Temkin Experience Ratings, and the satisfaction of products and relationships to name a few. This research is based on feedback from a key customer group:  IT decisions makers within large North American organizations. Our data about what companies are doing, such as The State of CX Management, includes a large sampling of B2B (along with B2C and many that have both B2B and B2C). We sometimes break out the B2B data in reports like Best Practices in B2B Customer Experience and posts such as B2B Versus B2C in VoC.

However, there is certainly a lot more data available for B2C than there is for B2B, especially with customer-driven feedback. This does not reflect the lack of CX effort in B2B companies; as a matter of fact, a large portion of Temkin Group’s client work is in B2B. So why is there such little data in this area? Because of some basic structural constraints of B2B CX:

• B2B requires specific respondents. While you can ask a consumer about a bunch of things from hotels to retailers to fast food restaurants, you can’t do the same in B2B. It would make no sense to ask an accountant about the performance of an infrastructure tech vendor or to ask an IT professional about the quality of a bank’s treasury services. As a result, studies must be targeted at individual sectors, one at a time.
• B2B data is more expensive. If you want to survey a B2B customer group (such as IT decision-makers), then you will likely have to purchase the sample from a vendor who manages B2B panels. Since Temkin Group does a lot of research, we are able to receive pretty competitive pricing for our studies. Yet, the cost of a single B2B respondent costs us about 10-times what it costs for a consumer respondent.
• B2B serves a variety of roles. When selling to a large company, there are often many people involved in the relationship, fulfilling roles such as decision-makers, influencers, end users, and economic buyers. The results from any study can vary widely based on which of those customer audiences you survey. A complete B2B study often needs to cover multiple audiences within each client company.

The bottom line: The lack of B2B data does not mean a lack of B2B interest or activity

Tech Vendors: Benchmarking Product and Relationship Satisfaction of IT Clients, 2013

We just published a new Temkin Group data snapshot: Tech Vendors: Benchmarking Product and Relationship Satisfaction of IT Clients. This new research highlights how IT professionals rate tech vendors in two key areas of experience: Products and relationships.

During Q1, 802 IT professionals from companies with at least $500 million in annual revenues rated both the products of and their relationships with 54 tech vendors. Some of the findings include: VMware leads in six of the eight satisfaction categories—product quality, product flexibility, technical support, account team support, cost of ownership, and innovation—while Microsoft servers and IBM SPSS score highest in product features, and Apple and Microsoft desktop software lead in ease of use. Deloitte Consulting on the other hand scores last in every satisfaction category except ease of use, which Computer Sciences Corporation IT services received bottom marks in.

Download report for $495
(includes spreadsheet with data)

As you can see below, we found a wide range of ratings across the 54 tech vendors for each of the eight criteria we examined:

Note: IT decision makers were asked to evaluate each of the criteria on a scale from very poor (1) to excellent (7). Net satisfaction equals the percentage of 6s and 7s minus the percentage of 1s, 2s, and 3s.

The data snapshot includes eight graphics that show the scores for each of the 54 tech vendors for each of these criteria. Here are the average net scores across all of the criteria:

Download report for $495
(includes spreadsheet with data)

The bottom line: Tech vendors need to improve their products and relationships

Report: 2013 Temkin Experience Ratings of Tech Vendors

We just published a Temkin Group report 2013 Temkin Experience Ratings of Tech Vendors that rates the customer experience of 54 large tech vendors based on a survey of 802 IT decision makers form large North American firms. Here is the executive summary of the report:

The 2013 Temkin Experience Ratings for Tech Vendors rates 54 large IT suppliers. We surveyed 800 IT professionals from large companies on the functional, accessible, and emotional components of their experiences with the IT providers. VMware, SAP analytics, and Microsoft (for servers, business applications, and desktop software) were at the top of the list with “excellent” ratings. At the other end of the spectrum, Hitachi, Tata, and Trend Micro were at the bottom of the list with “very poor” ratings. Our research also shows that the Temkin Experience Ratings are highly correlated with purchase momentum and innovation equity for these 54 firms. We show that Oracle outsourcing, VMware, NetApp, and SAP analytics have the most purchase momentum while Pitney Bowes, Trend Micro, and Deloitte consulting have the least. When it comes to innovation equity (the willingness of customers to try new offerings), VMware, SAP analytics, IBM SPSS, and Apple are at the top of the list and Accenture consulting, Intuit, and Deloitte consulting are at the bottom.

Download report for $495 (includes data file in Excel)

The Temkin Experience Ratings for Tech Vendors evaluates three areas of customer experience: functional (can customers achieve what they want to do), accessible (how easy is it for customers to do what they want to do), and emotional (how do customers feel about their interaction). Here are the overall results:

Here are some of the findings from the research:

• Only one tech vendor, VMware, earned an “excellent” rating while 17 earned “very poor” ratings.
• The average Temkin Experience Ratings for Tech Vendors has dropped from 58 percent in 2012 year to 52 percent this year, with the largest decline in the functional component.
• Oracle’s outsourcing services has the highest purchase momentum, followed by VMware, NetApp, and SAP analytics. At the bottom of the list for purchase momentum are Pitney Bowes, Trend Micro, and Deloitte consulting.
• VMware has the highest innovation equity, followed by SAP analytics, IBM SPSS, and Apple. At the bottom of the list, six tech vendors have innovation equity scores below 30 percent: Accenture consulting, Intuit, Deloitte consulting, Alcatel-Lucent, Pitney Bowes, and Infosys IT services.
• As you can see in the chart below, the Temkin Experience Ratings are highly correlated to purchasing momentum (plans of customers to purchase more in 2013) and innovation equity (the willingness of customers to try new offerings)

Download report for $495 (includes data file in Excel)

The bottom line: Tech vendors need to improve their customer experience

Report: Tech Vendor NPS Benchmark, 2013

We just published a Temkin Group report, Tech Vendor NPS Benchmark, 2013, The research examines Net Promoter Scores and the link to loyalty for 54 tech vendors based on feedback from IT decision makers. We also compared results to the NPS data we published last year. Here’s the executive summary:

We surveyed IT decision makers from more than 800 large North American firms to understand how they view their tech vendors. One of the questions we asked provides Net Promoter Scores® (NPS®) for 54 of those companies. VMWare and SAP analytics earned the highest NPS while CSC IT services and Infosys IT services earned the lowest. The overall industry average NPS dropped nine points from last year. Our analysis also examined the link between NPS and loyalty, finding that compared with detractors, promoters are more than six times as likely to forgive a tech vendor if they deliver a bad experience, almost six times as likely to try a new offering from the vendor, and more than three times as likely to purchase more from them this year. When examining the loyalty levels for each vendor, we found that Oracle consulting and VMWare clients have the strongest purchase intentions, SAP analytics and Sybase have earned the most forgiveness, and VMWare and SAP analytics have the most innovation equity.

Download report for $495 (includes Excel spreadsheet with data)

Here are some of the findings from the research:

• With an NPS of 47, VMware came out on top followed closely by SAP analytics with 45. At the other end of the spectrum, four tech vendors have negative NPS: CSC IT services, Infosys IT services, Alcatel-Lucent, and Deloitte consulting.
• The average NPS in the tech industry went from 33.6 in 2012 to 24.7 in 2013. The percentage of promoters dropped seven points.
• Compared with detractors, we found that promoters are more than six times likely to forgive a tech vendor if they deliver a bad experience, almost six times as likely to try a new offering from the company, and more than three times as likely to purchase more from them in 2013.
• Forgiveness and willingness to try increase steadily starting at 3 while increased purchases begins steady growth at 5.
• Promoters most frequently wanted lower prices and better support, while passives and detractors were looking for better support.
• Oracle outsourcing has the strongest purchase intentions while Trend Micro has the weakest.
• SAP analytics and Sybase have earned the most forgiveness while Trend Micro has earned the least.
• VMware has the most innovation equity while Accenture consulting and Intuit have the least.

Download report for $495 (includes Excel spreadsheet with data)

The bottom line: When it comes to NPS, large tech vendors are heading in the wrong directions

Note: See our 2012 NPS ratings for tech vendors and the post 9 Recommendations For Net Promoter Score along with all of my other posts about NPS.

P.S. Net Promoter Score, Net Promoter, and NPS are registered trademarks of Bain & Company, Satmetrix Systems, and Fred Reichheld.

What Drives Net Promoter Scores (NPS) in IT?

A previous post examined Net Promoter Scores (NPS) for tech vendors and the relationship between NPS and market share based on feedback from IT decision makers within large firms. Since I’ve had questions about that post, I decided to examine a common question: What’s driving those NPS scores? It turns out that the answer (no surprise) is customer experience.

We examined a number of metrics and their relationship with NPS in two areas:

• Correlation (R). This looks at how connected one metric is to another, ranging from -1.0 to 1.0. A correlation above 0.5 is strongly positive and above 0.7 is very strongly positive.
• Slope. This looks at the change in NPS that relates to a one-point change in the metric. A higher slope means a change in the metric has a higher change in NPS.

Our first analysis examined NPS scores versus the Temkin Experience Ratings for Tech Vendors. It turns out that there was a very strong correlation (R= 0.77) and the slope is 1.13.

We then examined the correlation and slope between NPS and components of the Temkin Experience Ratings as well as with product and relationship satisfaction scores.

Here are some observations from the analysis:

• Customer experience is critical. Temkin Experience Ratings has the highest impact on NPS, with the highest overall correlation and slope.
• You have to be easy to do business with. The highest individual correlation (.75) and slope (1.11) is with the accessible element of the Temkin Experience Ratings, which looks at how easy the company is to work with.
• Relationship trumps product. It turns out that the correlations are about the same for relationship satisfaction and product satisfaction, but the slope is much higher for relationship satisfaction.
• Cost of ownership stands out. When it comes to the slopes, cost of ownership (.99) stands out amongst the satisfaction items. Support of account team (.86) is also relatively high.

The bottom line: To improve NPS, improve customer experience.

You can purchase this data for $295. The Excel spreadsheet contains NPS, Temkin Experience Ratings, relationship satisfaction, and product satisfaction data for 60 tech vendors in the analysis as well as for 28 others with sample sizes of less than 60 respondents.