UK Companies Failing in Web-based Customer Self-service

Slough, United Kingdom, March 2007: According to research released by eGain (OTCBB: EGAN.OB) today, 57 percent of UK companies offer little or no web self-service, resulting in lost revenues and declining customer satisfaction. Only 17 percent of UK companies are offering their customers “visionary” or “above average” customer self-service via the web*.

eGain analysts assessed the web self-service capabilities of 125 major companies in the UK across retail, financial services, telecommunications and local government sectors. The research revealed that businesses in the UK are still falling short in this critically important aspect of customer service.

The websites of the companies included in the study were assessed on seven key capabilities: FAQs, dynamic FAQs, search / browse, natural language indicators, guided help, ease of escalation to customer service agents, and speed and quality of response to escalated enquiries. The results were used to categorise the web self-service capabilities of the companies into four groups: visionary, above average, below average and basic, based on the scores they received*.

The results showed that a third of UK companies (29 percent) offer very basic web self-service facilities. These sites provide just static FAQs, which lead customers to either abandon the website or resort to calling the company. Only three percent of all companies researched offered visionary web self-service. Six percent of companies offered no facility for email escalation from self-service, a critical requirement to prevent customer abandonment of the website. Only 18 percent of companies acknowledged the receipt of a customer e-mail, sent as a result of an escalation, a simple best practice to set customer expectations and enhance the service experience. The option to escalate seamlessly from self-service to agent-assisted service and providing rapid, high-quality resolution to the escalated queries help create a safety net for customers that can actually increase self-service adoption.

The telecommunications sector performed the best with 15 percent of the companies providing visionary self-service., while the local government sector performed the worst, with 70 percent rated below average.

“The study revealed that a significant number of UK companies are still failing to realise their full potential for customer retention and revenue growth by falling short in customer self-service via the web,” commented Andrew Mennie, General Manager and Vice President EMEA for eGain.

The findings of the study, along with self-service pitfalls and opportunities for innovation, will be presented at a seminar series in the UK titled “Web Self-Service in the UK - State of the Industry, Pitfalls, and Opportunities”. To register, click on the following URL: http://www.egain.com/news/registration_mar07.asp

*Mapping of ratings to scores:
Visionary: 3.0 to 4.0; Above average: 2.0 to 3.0; Below average: 1.0 to 2.0; Basic: 0.0 to 1.0

About eGain
eGain (OTCBB: EGAN.OB) is a leading provider of customer service and contact center software for in-house or on-demand SaaS deployment. Trusted by prominent enterprises worldwide, eGain has been helping businesses achieve and sustain customer service excellence for more than a decade. 24 of the 50 largest global companies rely on eGain to transform their traditional call centers, help desks, and web customer service operations into multichannel customer interaction hubs. These hubs enable dramatically improved customer experience, unified multichannel customer service, end-to-end service process efficiencies, and enhanced contact center performance.

Headquartered in Mountain View, California, eGain has an operating presence in 18 countries and serves more than 800 enterprise customers worldwide. To find out more about eGain, visit www.eGain.com or call the company's offices: 800-821-4358 (United States), 1753-464646 (UK and rest of Europe).

Media contacts
eGain UK
Kerry Hallard / Nicola Craft
Buffalo Communications Ltd
Tel: +44 (0) 207 292 8680
Email: egain@buffalo.co.uk

Melody Curtis
eGain Communications Ltd
Tel: +44 (0) 1753 464687
Email: mcurtis@egain.com