26th September 2012, Bracknell – A new whitepaper released today has revealed that many British companies are drastically out of touch with what customers want when it comes to customer service, contributing to a £4.35 billion loss to UK businesses due to customer ‘churn’.

The ‘British business – at your service?’ whitepaper commissioned by technology consultancy Portal and available to download for free, showed that over half (52 per cent) of British consumers have sought an alternative supplier at least once as a direct result of a poor customer service experience.

Despite this, 60 per cent of UK firms allocate less than five per cent of their marketing budget annually to customer retention, even though nearly three quarters (68 per cent) of businesses polled claimed that halving customer churn would increase their turnover by 50 per cent.

Shamus Kelly, CEO of Portal said “British businesses need to pay much more attention to their customers. They are tired of shoddy, lacklustre customer service and it’s time UK plc sat up and took notice.”

“Call centres just don’t cut it anymore; customers are demanding that companies look at new ways to communicate with them, such as social media and portals. Consumers’ preference for customer service interaction through customer portals has grown 62 per cent alone in the last two years – a significant contrast to the dwindling preference for telephone interactions, which have declined by 37 per cent over the same period.”

The research showed that despite customers’ desire for a multi-channel customer service offering, just 25 per cent of businesses use a customer portal for interaction with customers. Of these, almost two thirds provide a mechanism for customers to interact in real-time with customer service agents, an invaluable channel for solving customer concerns.

Kelly continued “As well as real-time interactions, these portals allow customers to serve themselves, discuss issues in forums and read reviews and social commentary - all of which make the customer experience significantly better. It’s time companies recognised that a small incremental investment will yield substantial business benefits.”

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Research carried out by The Leadership Factor in August 2012.

‘British business – at your service’ whitepaper is available to download here.

Portal helps some of the world’s best known brands transform the service they provide to their customers. With over 50 technically certified consultants and partnerships with major technology companies such as IBM and Amazon Webservices, it builds solutions that help its clients to deliver improved customer acquisition, customer retention, increased customer satisfaction and long-term customer loyalty. Portal’s experience spans all industry sectors but it has particular expertise in Public Sector, Banking and Financial Services, and Manufacturing/Industrial/Transport sectors. In 2011, Portal was awarded the national CRN Channel Award for Mid-Market Reseller of the Year. Portal is privately owned and based in Bracknell, Berkshire. For additional information visit www.chooseportal.com