Home Service companies need to be more responsive to online customers

(Vocus/PRWEB) 10 April 2011

The study from market research specialists eDigitalResearch, found that only 6 of the 20 sites benchmarked managed to score above 50% for email contact as customers became increasingly frustrated with unhelpful or delayed responses, compared with a top score of 87.8% for the account area, reaffirming that users expect added customer support, as well as innovative website tools.

Derek Eccleston, Research Director at eDigitalResearch, explains, It is essential that home service companies are providing adequate customer support, especially as more and more utility providers are offering online users the ability to view balances and make payments, as well as pioneering other website features, such as nPowers innovative price comparison tool.

Online customers now expect certain standards when it comes to website usability and the supporting customer contact. As these expectations continue to grow with the rise of MEcommerce, where users are now dictating to companies where, when and how they want to interact, it is vital that home service sites take the necessary steps to provide online customers an experience they have now come to expect, especially before they start looking for a better experience and better deals elsewhere".

The eHomeServices benchmark report assesses the entire end to end customer journey across 20 of the leading home service, utility and property websites. Unsurprisingly, email customer service was the lowest performing area throughout the study, with an average satisfaction score of just 45%. Customers were also disappointed on first impressions, with homepages found to be uninspiring and difficult to navigate, and only managing to score an average of 69.6%.

Telecoms provider O2 topped the overall league tables for the first time with an overall score of 76% and a well rounded performance across the entire end to end customer journey, including their customer service. Shoppers were particularly impressed with O2s friendly and professional telephone customer service, as well as their prompt and detailed email responses.

Gas and electric companies were the highest performing sector, with nPower, Southern Electric, British Gas and E.ON all completing the top five. Customers particularly rated these top providers simple yet functional account areas that included detailed and relevant information, as well as a variety of helpful tools to check energy use and bills.

On comparison, property sites were the worst performing sector overall, with eight out of the nine benchmarked only making it into the bottom half of the table. Those that did particularly poorly were unable to offer online users basic website usability features that are expected nowadays, such as relevant and detailed search facilities, easy-to-navigate pages, and prominent contact details. For sites that now allow users to complete entire property searches online, it is crucial that they provide the basic websites essentials and necessary customer contact to support this.

Home service providers are still lagging behind other eDigitalResearch industry benchmark standards. However, the gap between scores is less than that in the eRetail, eTravel, eFinance and mCommerce benchmark studies, suggesting that utility providers have a greater opportunity to differentiate themselves from their closest competitors across the industry as a whole and increase their market share.

For a copy of the results presentation, including the full league tables, please complete the following short survey; https://ecustomeropinions.com/survey/survey.php?sid=516954260 . Alternatively please log in or sign up to the benchmarking area of the eDigitalResearch website; http://www.edigitalresearch.com/benchmarking.

For more information please contact Lisa Bonczyk on +44 (0)1489 772920 or email lisa(dot)b(at)edigitalresearch(dot)com

Methodology

Distilled Intelligence Selects 55 Companies to Compete for Cash and Prizes Exceeding $25K

Washington, DC (PRWEB) October 03, 2011

Distilled Intelligence 1.0, the start-up competition created by Fortify.vc to energize DCs startups and investors, today announced the companies selected to participate at the October 11, 2011 event.

The presenters represent a strong cross-section of technology including big data, cyber security, clean / green tech, critical infrastructure, disruptive technology, analytics, design, enterprise software, medical IT, mobile commerce, SaaS providers, and social platforms.

We had a large number of submissions and many great companies to choose from. The overall quality, diversity and level of talent made this a challenging process, said Adam Fazackerley, General Partner of Fortify.vc and Master of Ceremonies for the event. Initially, the down select number was 50, but the caliber of the startups was so strong that we felt complelled to expand the field.

An independent panel of judges conducted the down select to 55 from a pool of well over one hundred companies with collaboration from the team at Fortify.vc. The full list of presenting companies is available on the Distilled Intelligence 1.0 web site, http://www.distilledintelligence.com/companies.php.

Distilled Intelligence 1.0 will take place on Tuesday, October 11, 2011 from 9:00am to 5:00pm at the Commonwealth of Virginias Center of Innovative Technology (CIT) in Herndon, Virginia. Fifty-five companies will present in the first round, 22 will advance to the second round and finally 11 will compete for the cash and prizes.

This is a unique time for innovation and investing in the Mid-Atlantic region and we are fortunate to see such support for Distilled Intelligence 1.0 from the technology community, sponsors, startups and investors, said Jonathon Perrelli, founder and general partner of Fortify.vc. Although it feels like we are throwing two weddings on the same day as we cater to the needs of both founders and investors equally, all of the hard work will pay off for this region.

The event is on track to draw more than 500 people. Tickets are on sale at http://www.distilledintelligence.com for investors and entrepreneurs who are interested in attending.

Distilled Intelligence 1.0 sponsors include: Access National Bank, Bridgeport Benefit Advisors, CIT, Cooley, DLA Piper, Heiden Group, Loudon County Virginia, Montgomery County Virginia, SecureForce, SpeakerBox Communications, Summit Financial Systems, and TIA.

About Distilled Intelligence 1.0

Distilled Intelligence 1.0 provides the region's hottest startups with an opportunity to present to angel investors and venture capital firms looking for investments. Fifty-five startups have been selected to compete for a chance to win cash and prizes totaling $ 25,000 (no strings attached). The event hosts and sponsors have assumed the mission of pairing startups with investors and are confident that companies will obtain funding as a result of attending this event.

About Fortify.vc

Fortify.vc is a seed and early stage venture fund founded and managed by serial entrepreneurs and angel investors. Limited partners and the management team all have experienced multiple successful company exits. The Founders Funding Founders theme reflects their mission to serve as a founder-friendly fund. Fortify.vc invests in talent-rich technology markets with a focus on product companies in cyber-security, mobile commerce, social platforms, and enterprise software. Fortify.vc looks for great teams with defensible market positions, in large- or high-growth sectors. The partners and mentors actively participate with portfolio companies to develop sound strategies, grow intelligently, and facilitate follow-on funding, or clear exits.

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Business Intelligence Provider Hoover's Releases Latest Edition of "The Hoover's Index" List of the Top 1,000 Companies Most Searched

Austin, TX (PRWEB) May 9, 2007

Hoover's, Inc. today announced the launch of "The Hoover's Index," a free, proprietary monthly index of the leading public and private companies, non-profits, and associations which represent the brand leaders, up-and-comers and "buzz" creators driving the U.S. and international economies.

The Hoover's Index, which reveals monthly spikes in business search activity, is based on a proprietary algorithm that takes into account the search trends of business professionals, including both organic and internal searches on Hoover's site, as well as business searches conducted via major search engines. Movement above and below index determines ranking, instead of gross search volume.

"The high rankers in this latest edition of The Hoover's Index run the gamut from a leading B2B company and large bank, to a couple of household consumer brand names," said Tim Walker, Hoover's industry analyst. "The majority of the latest index toppers have risen in the ranks primarily because of news of mergers and all-out bidding wars."

LaSalle Bank Corporation (Index #406)

During the 17th century, the explorer La Salle traveled through a large swath of what is today the Midwest - the same region where Chicago-based LaSalle Bank has a strong presence with individual consumers and small and medium-sized businesses. LaSalle Bank made headlines in April when its parent company, ABN Amro, agreed to be acquired by Barclays in what would be the largest banking merger ever. (The price tag is around $ 90 billion.) The catch is that to aid the deal's passage, ABN Amro agreed to sell LaSalle to Bank of America at a price - $ 21 billion - that could seem like a bargain once Bank of America reaps the cost savings of owning LaSalle and starts profiting from its retail network in the Midwest. But LaSalle has other ardent suitors, foremost among them The Royal Bank of Scotland, which covets LaSalle's strong position in Chicago. At the end of April, RBS led a consortium of European banks that made a whopping counteroffer for ABN Amro - nearly $ 100 billion.

DoubleClick Inc. (Index #376)

Being a leading company in your field will get you noticed; being a leading company in your field and having Google announce that it plans to buy you will get you noticed a whole lot more. That's the tale of DoubleClick as it finds itself near the top of this month's Hoover's Index. The company provides targeted online advertising placement and scheduling services, consulting services related to online advertising, and other electronic marketing services. Google intends to pay $ 3.1 billion to buy DoubleClick, a move that should extend the leading search company's reach into more facets of online advertising, which makes up the bulk of Google's revenues.

The Gatorade Company (Index #371)

First the University of Florida Gators opened the month of April with a historic title, becoming the first college ever to win the NCAA football and men's basketball championships in the same year. Then Gatorade, which was developed in the 1960s to hydrate Gator football teams playing in the hot Florida sun, closed off the month at the top of The Hoover's Index. With Major League Baseball season having started, the NASCAR season in full swing, and the NBA and NHL playoffs underway, April is one of the busiest sporting months on the calendar - and one of the busiest times on the Gatorade advertising calendar.

Gatorade quenches the thirst for profit of its parent company, PepsiCo, thanks to the ongoing rage for energy drinks. The big soft drink makers - Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, and Cadbury Schweppes above all - don't actually care which of their beverages you consume, as long as you do consume. If you want soda, they're happy to oblige with their signature products. When consumers showed they wanted more bottled water, it took no time for Coke to bring out Dasani and Pepsi to introduce Aquafina. And with the ongoing success of Red Bull, Coke's POWERade, and similar drinks, it's no wonder the category pioneer - the venerable Gatorade - finds itself in the spotlight.

Enterprise Rent-A-Car Company (Index #333)

When Enterprise says "We'll pick you up," it's not just a marketing slogan - it's a key to how the company does business. While top rivals Hertz and Avis operate mainly from airports, Enterprise has traditionally focused on customers whose own cars are in the shop or who need a rental for vacations or other special occasions. (More than 90% of Enterprise's car rental business comes from customers in their home cities, as opposed to travelers.) This emphasis stands to change thanks to a big deal Enterprise announced in April. The company plans to purchase Vanguard Car Rental Group, the parent company of the Alamo Rent A Car and National Car Rental chains, which operate primarily out of airports. Assuming the deal goes through, the combined Enterprise-Alamo-National lineup would become the clear industry leader in the U.S. car rental business.

(As an example, a Hoover's Index of 406 means that search volume was 4.06 times higher than the average search volume.)

To see the entire list of The Hoover's Index, click "here." Additionally, for those who would like direct delivery of news about the latest developments with The Hoover's Index, the "Hoover's Hottest Companies" newsletter is available "here."

The Hoover's Index, which utilizes more than a billion data points, is compiled from a universe which includes all worldwide companies that trade on a major stock exchange, as well as private companies identified as leaders by Hoover's business intelligence experts. Hoover's subscribers can click through from The Hoover's Index to in-depth coverage of the history, operations, and executives leading each company on the list.

Hoover's combines insightful editorial expertise, proprietary data collection technologies and a smart, engaging presentation to give its customers easy access to the most enlightening business information available.

About Hoover's, Inc.

Hoover's, a D&B company, gives its customers a competitive edge with insightful information about industries, companies, and key decision makers. Hoover's provides this up-to-date business information for sales, marketing, business development, and other professionals who need intelligence on U.S. and global companies, industries, and the people who lead them. This information, along with powerful tools to search, sort, download and integrate the content, is available through Hoover's, the company's premier online service. Hoover's business intelligence is also available through corporate intranets and distribution agreements with licensees, as well as via Hoover's books. The company is headquartered in Austin, Texas.

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