Will Asia-Pacific consumers pay more for better customer service? The answer may surprise you. Download this executive summary, which shows the findings from Avaya's 6th annual CEM Index and survey results, to learn more. And get the full whitepaper here: http://www3.avaya.com/APAC/cem/guide-webinar/cem-index.asp

1. Table of Contents
Introduction
The Avaya Asia Pacific Customer Experience Index has become an established key measure of the
Introduction
1
SECTION 1: The Importance of Good Service
2
Pacific. Based on its success, the Customer Experience Index has been expanded to provide a deeper
SECTION 2: The Multi-Channel Landscape
3
and richer understanding of consumer attitudes, experiences and expectations with regards to the use
SECTION 3: Future Channel Usage
4
SECTION 4: Key Research Findings
5
SECTION 5: How do Organizations Respond?
5
Index is based on an extensive quantitative study of APAC consumers conducted via web-based and
About Fifth Quadrant
6
telephone surveys conducted in partnership with Fifth Quadrant. The study covers consumer use,
contact center customer experience, valued by Avaya customers and service organizations across Asia
of different customer service channels with an emphasis on new technology solutions.
Now in its sixth year, the Avaya Asia Pacific Customer Experience Index reflects the full range of
customer service channels now being demanded by APAC consumers. The Avaya Customer Experience
experience and attitudes towards existing and future customer service channels. A total of n=2,445
consumers representing a wide distribution of demographic life stage and industry verticals were
involved in the study.
The purpose of this document is to provide a summary and overview of the key themes and take outs
from the research results this year. For more detailed findings of the results including across country
comparisons, please refer to the PowerPoint report “The Avaya Asia Pacific Customer Experience
Index 2013”.
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Avaya Asia Pacific Customer Experience Index 2013|APAC Summary

2. Customer Experience Management and delivering excellent service to customers has never before been so
important for organizations to deliver. As product led business models become outdated, leading organizations
now recognize the importance of customer experience as a driver of business performance. Results from this
research study highlight the significant impact that good or bad customer experience can have on the future
intentions of customers:

The majority of APAC consumers (70%) will spend at least 10% more money with a company that
consistently provides excellent customer service
Further to the positive impact customer experience can have on driving customer value, the size of the risk in
terms of potential negative impacts of delivering poor service are significant:

More than 8 out of 10 APAC customers will actively advise friends/family to avoid a company that has
provided poor customer service (83%)
Top Three Reasons For Customer Defection

More than 8 out of 10 APAC customers will actively avoid buying more products or services from a
company the provides bad customer service (83%)
The research reveals that poor customer service is the second most important reason that causes customers to
defect from one provider to another. As reported by customers across the APAC region, the top three reasons
why customer defect from one provider to the next are: Poor quality products or services (69%), Poor customer
service (61%) and Increases in price (43%).
Customers have made it very clear to organizations the consequences and risks of not delivering a great
customer experience every time.
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Avaya Asia Pacific Customer Experience Index 2013|APAC Summary

3. One of the biggest challenges organizations face as they set out along the Customer Experience path is the
growing complexity regarding the use of multiple channels by customers as they interact with their providers.
The customer experience landscape has now expanded to include over 20 unique customer experience channels
from traditional face-to-face and live agents to virtual agents and gamification.
Customers are engaging with organizations for multiple reasons through multiple channels. This research reveals
some compelling facts:

On average, customers are contacting one single organization at least 15 times in a 3 month period, and
are using almost 4 different channels to do this
% Times Needed To Contact To Resolve Query
This behavior is in part driven by the fact that customers are engaging with organizations to resolve a range of
different queries. However, it is clear that many customers are required to use different channels because they
are not getting their query resolved adequately through the first channel they use:

On average, it takes a customer just under 4 interactions with an organization to resolve their query
(3.93)
As customers bounce around different channels they have come to expect a seamless and integrated experience
regardless of the channel they use. However, the current performance of organizations in meeting these
expectation is rated as fairly poor across the region indicating a significant opportunity for organizations to focus
on as they evolve more effective Customer Experience strategies. Reasons given for rating a company as good or
% Rate Organization Good/Excellent Performance
excellent in this space include :


Combining the information from different interactions (55%)

Knowing your history across different channels (50%)

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Not having to repeat your query each time (57% Good / Excellent)
Not having to repeat account identification and information each time (48%)
Avaya Asia Pacific Customer Experience Index 2013|APAC Summary

4. Increase In Channel Usage In Next 12 Months
As organizations expand the variety of channels they offer to customers, it is important that they listen to their
customers in order to deliver a channel strategy that meets their customer needs, and not just simply follow
their competitors. There are many examples where organizations have rushed to launch a mobile app or social
media channel but have not achieved the benefits they were expecting due to poor execution. Planning and
prioritizing future channel investment must come from listening to customers.
The research reveals that the top three channels that are predicted to experience the most significant growth in
usage across the APAC region are:

Web self-service (41% of customers will increase usage)

Live agent (36%)

Email (35%)
In terms of emerging channels, customers report that Mobile Apps (32%) and Facebook (25%) are becoming
more widely used ahead of other channels such as Web Chat (19%), SMS (21%), IVR (15%) and Video (14%). As
Most Recent Channel Used To Resolve Query
organizations expand and invest in these emerging channels it is clear they also need to maintain the
effectiveness of the traditional channels, such as voice and email. In addition, web self-service is considered to
be a central channel as customers look to resolve their queries themselves more and more. This puts greater
pressure on supporting technology such as Knowledge Management and Customer Relationship Management
(CRM) tools to ensure customers can effectively resolve their query themselves without having to escalate to
more expensive channels.
Analysis reveals that in nearly 2 in 5 cases (37%) customers used the phone conversation channel last to resolve
their query. This is followed by face to face (30%) and Web self-service. So although customers express a desire
to increase their use of many newer channels, these newer channels are still not necessarily meeting customer
expectations, leading to additional effort and leading customer back to resolve their queries through traditional
channels.
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Avaya Asia Pacific Customer Experience Index 2013|APAC Summary

5. SOCIAL MEDIA
The use of social media as a service channel is forecast to continue to grow rapidly. This research reveals that
the growth in the use of social media as a customer service channel has been led by customers who have been
trying to resolve their query via other channels first. Amongst the 28% of customer who have used social media
in the past 3 months for a service query, nearly 9 in 10 (87%) had already tried to use another channel to
resolve the query. It is also clear that the reason why customers have chosen to escalate their query via social
media is many expect to be able to get a faster response (60%) or get a more positive response (48%) and
Why Decided To Post Query on Social Media
making sure their query is actually addressed (44%).
Social media is not currently seen by customers as a primary channel, but as a means of avoiding traditional
channels as they may be acutely aware of how sensitive organizations are to comments made about them in
social media forums.
SMS AND EMAIL
In terms of outbound communication, SMS and Email notifications are currently used by approximately 60% of
customers across the region; however there is a strong desire for more engagement via these channels,
particularly for the following:

Transport delays

Cancellation notifications

Appointment reminders

Fraud alerts

SMS and Email desired engagement
Service due reminders
An effective outbound strategy can often negate the need for customers to contact an organization and deliver
a simple and easy experience whilst reducing operational costs for enterprise.
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Avaya Asia Pacific Customer Experience Index 2013|APAC Summary

6. Section 5: How To Respond
This unique look at the APAC customer reveals some key trends that organizations
Given the complexities within customer experience management, leading
must heed if they are to maximize their business opportunities:
organizations are taking a more strategic approach in order to take advantage of the

Customers have clearly expressed that good and bad customer service can
have a significant impact on their future intentions. It can make the difference
between a customer increasing their spend with an organization or walking
potential opportunities that exist. Organizations need to have, or should be working
towards a Customer Experience Strategy & Multi-Channel strategy that…

out of the door, and telling their friends and family to do the same as they do.

Delivers the seamless integration of customer service from a customer’s
point-of-view across multiple channels
Customer Experience Management is now more complex as customers

Doesn’t view channels / channel offering as silos
bounce around multiple channels to resolve the numerous queries they have.

Understands the role each channel can play in the customer experience
But customers have also clearly expressed their expectations regarding the
offering and what areas you need to be ready for
delivery of a seamless and integrated experience. They expect organizations
to be able to understand their behavior and use that information to make the

Transcends to entire enterprise
experience as simple as possible. In essence, customers hate to repeat

Is designed with customers in mind
information and start their query all over again when they move from one
channel to the next.

For more information please refer to the ‘The Avaya Asia Pacific Customer Experience Index 2013’
Customers are seeking greater control and are therefore becoming more
aligned to using self-service channels whether it be via the company’s web
site, a mobile app and even social media searching for peer based solutions.

More and more customers are turning to social media to avoid traditional
channels and processes because they are not getting the service they expect.

There are significant opportunities for organizations to proactively engage
customers via SMS and email, thereby removing the need for the customer to
contact the organization altogether.
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Avaya Asia Pacific Customer Experience Index 2013|APAC Summary

7. About Fifth Quadrant
Established in 1998, Fifth Quadrant Pty Ltd is a Customer Experience Strategy, Design and Research Company. We provide management consulting, industry
analysis, customer experience design, customer research, data modelling, operational improvement programs and executive training programmers.
We work across Contact Center, Face-to-Face, Online, Correspondence, Social Media, Mobile & Video channels.
Fifth Quadrant’s services include:
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Avaya Asia Pacific Customer Experience Index 2013|APAC Summary