Telstra (ASX:TLS) added 1.3 million new mobile customers in 2013 while at the same time reducing complaints to the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO) according to CEO David Thodey.
Speaking at the telco's AGM in Sydney, he said that level one complaints to the TIO declined by 8 per cent this year. Complaints about Telstra dropped 21 per cent in 2011-12.
More than 7500 staff had received training on customer advocacy. Customers completed 10 million surveys rating the service they received.
However, Thodey said the company still has much to do to create the type of customer centred organisation it wants to be.
“We still make mistakes, and I still receive many complaint emails from customers every day. The point is, if we make a mistake we make a commitment to fix it,” he said.
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Turning to contact centre jobs, he said that offshoring would continue to happen as customers preferred to interact with the telco online.
“Forty per cent of customer transactions were completed online in 2013 – compared to only 30 per cent in 2012 – and this percentage will grow again this year. This means that our contact centre work is declining quickly and will continue to do so.”
Thodey said it was “unacceptable” for customers to have a poor conversation with consultants due to language difficulties, whether they are based in Australia or overseas.
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