Annoyingly long waiting times on the hotline and unanswered e-mail inquiries quickly cause customer frustration. The study by the German Institute for Service Quality shows the current status of services on the phone and by e-mail.
A total of 23 studies by the German Institute for Service Quality, which were published between 2021 and mid-2022, form the basis of this meta-analysis. Viewed across all sectors examined, the service on the phone is satisfactory. The service level has thus increased compared to the previous year (currently: 61.0 points, 2021: "sufficient" with 59.8 points).
In contrast to the hotline services, the e-mail service remains at a sufficient level despite a slight improvement (currently: 52.5 points, 2021: 51.2 points). The best result in telephone service was achieved by companies in the "Housing for seniors" category (sector value: 67.6 points) - when it came to service by e-mail, the financial sector (58.6 points) was the leader.
On the hotlines and via e-mail, the employees of numerous companies distinguish themselves with good skills. On the other hand, the lack of solution orientation emerges as a deficit in the consultations.
For example, customer requirements are often only asked superficially or not at all. The consequence: The information here is not very individual and not precise. The often low response rate also has a negative impact on the moderate performance in the area of service by e-mail: 15.0 percent of the companies tested are "poor" due to the lack of e-mail replies. Markus Hamer, Managing Director of the German Institute for Service Quality, takes stock: "The results give reason to hope that the German economy will master the major challenges posed by the pandemic, also in terms of service, better and better. There are also a number of companies, especially those Test winners who currently offer a high level of service."
The following companies came first with the best service on the phone: Studienkreis (education), Comdirect (finance), Karl-Olga-Krankenhaus (health), H
In the area of service by e-mail, the following companies ranked first: FOM Hochschule für Oekonomie und Management (education), Interhyp (finance), Braceless (health), Pickens (house
The German Institute for Service Quality analyzed a total of 479 companies. The meta-analysis of 23 DISQ studies published from January 2021 to June 2022 focused on the study areas of telephone service and e-mail service. The following sectors or categories were evaluated: education, finance, health, home
