Hong Kong Broadband Network Limited: An examination of call centre service quality and customer satisfaction

Abstract

The rapid growth of broadband service demand and the exit barrier of existing players have caused keen competition in the fixed telecom network industry in the past decade. Because of high complaint rate and low product differentiation, customer loyalty is weak in the industry. The competition among rivalries is moved from price to product quality and then service quality now. If customers are satisfied, they will become loyal customer. Loyal customers will continue to use the product by renewing the contract with the service provider and will tell positive word of mouth to their friends. More loyal customers will recommend the product to their friends too. Then, more business opportunities will be created to the company and thus increasing market share in the industry. Enhancing customer satisfaction becomes a competitive strategy. Before starting the study, a competitive analysis was done among the four key rivalries in the industry. It was found that retail shops and call centre are the main customer service touch points. However, HKBN has few retail shops and relies on its call centre as the main customer service touch point. To win the battle of customer satisfaction, HKBN needs to provide higher service quality by its call centre. The service dimensions of call centre including accessibility, interaction with agents and answer/solution are used as indicators to assess service quality and customer satisfaction in HKBN call centre. At the same time, willingness to continue the service and willingness to recommend are used as indicators for customer loyalty. The concept of gap model of is used to find out the service quality perception gaps between the organization-side (HKBN) and customers. By the findings of this study, it was concluded that customer satisfaction has positive effect on customer loyalty. The three service dimensions combine to form customer satisfaction. The study found out that HKBN call centre service quality is just adequate that customer loyalty is weak. After analysis, four service attributes were identified affecting customer satisfaction significantly. Also, it was found that the service quality perception of management and customers could not be met in reality. Consequently, some recommendations to improve the call centre service quality were given in the study.