A framework for quality customer service
To provide some structure around the idea of customer experience Dalbar surveyed (and periodically continues to survey) Canadian investors regarding what they believe to be important components of a quality customer service experience. Using that consumer feedback, Dalbar has defined a “customer experience” according to the following five criteria with each component having its own weight/importance (see figure below):
- Expertise
- Accommodation
- Professionalism
- Sales Effectiveness
- Chat/Email
Even though there is still a degree of subjectivity in terms of how the weights are assigned, having structured and transparent criteria allows others to determine whether or not the criteria and the associated weights make sense to them.
How it all comes together
Over the span of about a year, Dalbar analysts carefully review the quality of discount brokerage customer service by using data from actual telephone and email interactions with account holders. They obtain this information from clients enlisted in a “mystery shopper” style program so that Dalbar’s evaluations capture as authentic an interaction experience as possible. Questions or requests can span a range of common customer service situations including everything from questions about specific services to obtaining a stock quote by phone.
The analysis is performed using custom software specifically designed to ensure that evaluations are conducted consistently from one encounter to the next. Once the data is analyzed, discount brokerages are compared with one another on their performance across the categories mentioned above. The company that scores the highest on the evaluation is then awarded the Direct Brokerage Service Award.
The service experiences that Dalbar tests cover the most common requests made by investors to their discount brokerage. Often, this is precisely the kind of information potential clients are looking to find out from an unbiased source before making the decision to choose one discount brokerage over another.