Measuring Customer Satisfaction
1&1 Versatel is a business-to-business (B2B) provider of fiber-optic gigabit connections and an experienced telecommunications partner for companies from all sectors and of all sizes. We have implemented more than 50,000 business customer solutions and have more than 100 carriers as customers. Customer satisfaction is one of our core corporate goals and as such is a major factor guiding our day-to-day operations. A representative phone survey of all existing customers is conducted twice a year with the help of an external market research institute to review customer satisfaction in depth. This captures both general customer satisfaction with 1&1 Versatel’s overall performance on a scale of one to five and dedicated customer feedback on our core processes. In addition, we use our net promoter score (NPS) to measure our customers’ willingness to recommend us to others.
As a B2B provider, we have an extremely heterogeneous customer structure. In line with this, we analyze customer satisfaction by specific customers groups and segments. These comprise large customers, wholesale customers (i.e., other telecommunications providers such as mobile and fixed network carriers, cable network operators, national and international B2B telecommunications providers, resellers, and city and regional carriers), and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Overall satisfaction is calculated using the weighted average of the individual results for the three customer segments. We also use panel surveys to obtain a comparative benchmark of how satisfied our competitors’ customers are.
This is supplemented by continuous, event-driven measurement of customer satisfaction. These measures are triggered either when customers contact our service units proactively (e.g., via the SME service hotline) or when certain measures are completed successfully. For example, in 2021 we started systematically capturing customer satisfaction in connection with fault repairs, something that has already led to valuable customer feedback in more than 2,000 cases. This information is used to identify potential improvements, evaluate the success of measures taken and further enhance our customer focus.
We also include external evaluations in our analyses. Our sister company 1&1 again received a “very good” rating in the 2021 broadband and fixed network test run by specialist magazine “connect.” As in the past, the test evaluated operators’ entire network infrastructure – in other words, in 1&1’s case it looked not only at the Group’s own lines but also at 1&1 Versatel’s fiber-optic network and the lines that have been leased in some cases. As a result, the very good result also applies to 1&1 Versatel: As the 1&1 Group’s infrastructure provider, we also make a significant contribution to the 1&1 Consumer Access Segment’s success.
The Quality & Knowledge Management department, which reports to the Chief Operating Officer (COO), designs and coordinates all customer surveys. This unit also analyzes the results and identifies drivers for satisfaction and dissatisfaction. The resulting insights and customer needs are communicated regularly and proactively within the Company, and discussed with the management and the departments concerned. The focus in all cases is on identifying, implementing, and assessing concrete measures for enhancing customer satisfaction. Our goal here is to make our services more and more attractive for our customers and to optimize the impact that our processes have on them.
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