A new survey on wireless customer satisfaction from J.D. Power shows that customers are happier with their devices when they receive in-store demonstrations of features.
The survey was based on responses from thousands of wireless customers in the first half of this year, among whom 58% had made a purchase in the past six months from their carriers. Most of those (66%) made their purchases in-store, with 24% buying online and 10% calling their carrier in order to do so.
If a customer received a device demonstration during their store visit, J.D. Power said, they were far more likely to say that they would “definitely” shop at the same retailer again — 46% vs. 23% of those who didn’t get a demo. They also reported higher levels of satisfaction and were less likelihood to consider churning, with 37% of customers who had a demonstration reporting that they “definitely will not” switch carriers compared with 26% of those who did not experience a demonstration.
“There is strong incentive for wireless service carriers to encourage their sales representatives to offer service and feature demonstrations to prospective cell phone and tablet customers. Not only does this increase the likelihood that customers will select the right device for their needs, it proactively answers questions that may otherwise arise after the sales transaction,” said Kirk Parsons, who is senior director of telecommunications at J.D. Power. “Identifying the types of features and services a customer is seeking at the point of purchase can reduce future callbacks to customer care, while improving the overall customer experience and long-term loyalty.”
AT&T ranked the highest in satisfaction among full-service wireless carriers, and T-Mobile US came in second. Boost Mobile placed first among non-contract offerings, followed by MetroPCS and Virgin Mobile.
J.D. Power said that the average time spent demonstrating a new device is about eight minutes.
