|
Author: Richard Green Article source: http://www.marketing-seek.com/. Used with author's permission.
In their efforts to cut costs more and more finance companies are looking to use offshore call centres to provide their customer services and administration. This is especially prevalent in the insurance industry, where it seems as if there is a newspaper announcement of previously UK based services migrating abroad every day. As more insurers use offshore call centres, recent research from Swinton insurance shows that motorists are increasingly turning to the internet to find the best deal on their car insurance.
Drivers are constantly advised to search around and obtain multiple quotes when it comes to renewal time, with recent research showing that drivers needed to obtain at least seven car insurance quotes to be likely to have found their most competitive deal, on average £52.26 better than their first quote. However with 47 per cent of those looking for car insurance taking more than ten minutes to obtain a single quote by phone, while a single quick search on a website like Moneynet, or Insure Supermarket can provide immediate comparisons of tens or hundreds of car insurance providers, it is understandable that people are turning towards the internet as a means of shopping around for the best deals.
It is not only the length of time taken by the call centres that motorists appear to have a problem with. The study found that the number of motorists looking for car insurance online has now reached 681,000 with many of them citing poor call centre performance, and doubts over the efficacy of the call centres as the main reasons why they are no longer using the phone to obtain insurance.
Most of those questioned indicated that concerns over the levels of customer service provided by call centres, with offshore centres targeted in particular, was a major factor for them fuelling a move from phone to the internet. Rightly or wrongly, most of those surveyed felt that the service provided, and the time taken for problems to be resolved, by offshore call centres would be slower, when compared with their UK call centres counterparts.
Despite the high levels of respondents reporting being unhappy with the customer service provided by UK call centres, and general levels of dissatisfaction with call centre staff growing, the phone is still most drivers' favoured method of buying cover. Swinton claims almost two thirds of UK motorists indicated they use the phone to buy their car insurance, while the number of motorists purchasing their cover online has now risen to 23%. The AA have stated that the figures are actually closer to 40% of all new car insurance now being arranged on the internet, with online sales of car insurance last year growing by nearly two-thirds.
However, even with the growth in the number of people using the internet and despite all the safety measures implemented to facilitate online transactions, more than a million motorists are reported as still not trusting the internet as a safe purchasing tool, and feel safer using the phone to speak directly to a person. This is despite recent news reports of the bank account details of 1,000 UK customers, including passwords, addresses and passport data, held by Indian call centres, being sold to an undercover reporter from the Sun.
Andrew Jackson, marketing director for Swinton said, "We believe that despite the increase in the number of people purchasing car insurance on the internet, the phone will continue to be a popular method as long as providers ensure that their call centres provide good quality customer service,".
However unless call centre based companies redress the publics perceptions of poor performance offered by call centres, they are liable to find more motorists trying to find other options, and if the internet based insurance providers can convince the increasingly technologically savvy public that buying online is safe, then we may soon see the rapid decline of call centres and see the internet becoming the primary source of information for motorists in their quest for cheaper car insurance. Richard works in Edinburgh for a media company, occasionally writing for the personal finance blog Cashzilla, and drinking too much coffee.
References:
AA
Moneynet
Swinton
Why A Simple Counter is Never Enough for Your Website
How to Track Your Website Traffic and Maximize Your Profits
Print Your Marketing Postcards For A Penny, Address Them For Free, and Automate the Whole Process
This article will show you how to cut your printing costs to a penny and have your postcards addressed for free without doing it all yourself, reducing the time...
9-11 Changed Everything for the Garden Tractor Business
While traveling the US and occasionally taking the back highways one might have seen an interesting trend. That is the proliferation of the Lawn Garden tractors...
Effective Use of Traffic Exchanges
Like them or love them, traffic exchanges always seem to get an opinion out of people. Some people can't see the point and others love them to death. Sure, a lo...
Avoiding Complications in Credit Repair
Avoiding complications in credit repair is almost important as getting out of debt. When we have bills that were neglected simply because we didn't have the mon...
Ringtones Explained - Monophonic, Polyphonic, or Whatever Phonic Rings Your Bell
This article will describe briefly what ring tones are, what's currently available and what the future holds.
Do You REALLY Want to Enter That New Market?
Before you commit limited business resources to a new venture or target market - take a quick read of this article. There may be something here you did not cons...
Why Would You Use Blogs Instead of a Web Site For Your Online Business?
Why would you use Blogs instead of a web site for your online business?
Anti-Wrinkle Lifestyle Tips
Experts say that, when it comes to getting wrinkles, 10% is genetics -- but the other 90% is environment and lifestyle. This is great news! Why? Because it mean...
4 Steps You Can Take If Your Online Credit Card Application Has Been Refused
Help! I've Been Turned Down
Protecting Your Identity On The Internet
Afraid that someone is monitoring your PC or installed a keylogger to record every single keystroke? Find out which tools you need to get to make sure you are ...
How to Start a Business on the Internet
So you want to start a business? Good for you. Really, I mean that sincerely. I think about the millions of people that let the thought pass briefly through the...
The Kabbalah of Yom Kippur: Rising Above Time
The light of Yom Kippur helps us to more than atone for the past. It helps us transform the past and create a powerful new future.
Golf Club Swing Weights
Low lofted iron head's, such as a 3-iron, have a much lower weight than a higher iron head, but the irons feel the same weight, due to the increased length of t...
5 Deadly Mistakes That Affiliates Make - A Quiz
Some people are making big money with affiliate programs-some are not. How do you rate? Take this short quiz to find out what kind of affiliate you are.
The Anatomy of Hype
Hype raises objections in some markets. If you use the following tactics, many educated shoppers cringe and go elsewhere: overblown claims, overexcited tone, u...
Increase Semen Production Safely and Effectively
The desire to increase semen production is common among men throughout world and the reasons are various; ranging from hopes of increased fertility to a desire ...
Respect Is A Four-Letter Word
Life Strategy Coach Laurie Hayes shares a practice that will attract positive events and people into your life.
Anti-Aging Skin Care Products: The Evolution
During the last 10 years more attention is paid to the anti aging skin care. Developments within this category were influenced by such factors as competition am...
Bhagavad Gita Commentary
Most of us have heard the story of the centipede who, when asked how he managed to walk with so many legs, could no longer do so, but tangled his legs hopelessl...
Woodworking Tools: Right Selection And Care Will Save You Money, Part 2
For the most part, cutting of wood is done with a saw. Typically if a woodworking cut is needed, whether it be straight or curved, it is done with a saw.
Secured Loans House the Most Positivistic Consequences of Loan Borrowing
Secured loans are meant for homeowners who place their home as a guarantee for the money they borrow. The interest rates are low, repayment terms are flexible. ...
A Guide to UK Secured Homeowner Loans
Trying to find good UK secured homeowner loans might seem difficult at first, but once you know what you're looking for and how to search for it then it's actua...
Conquer Depression - 5 Super Effective Tips To Kill Depression
Article about Depression.
|
Print this page