Punctuality, Notifications Important to Customers in Service Visits, Says JD Power

of completed work; a technician’s knowledge, courtesy and professionalism; and appointment scheduling. Overall satisfaction was lower among customers whose technician arrived early or late (750 on a 1,000-point scale) vs. on time (874). Customers who received a notification were much more likely to say their technician arrived on time than those who didn't get one (92 percent vs. 73 percent), and overall satisfaction bumped 86 points when customers were contacted on the day of the appointment before technician arrival. Though the most common means of scheduling service was via phone, satisfaction was lowest there and highest via website or mobile app. Five percent of customers received notifications via mobile app, 11 percent by email and 86 percent by phone. Overall satisfaction with a service experience grew 74 points when the provider contacted the customer after the visit to make sure everything was running smoothly; it rose 90 points when a technician offered to schedule a follow-up visit to fix any outstanding issues. Comcast/Xfinity' score was 855, Verizon 849, Cox 842, CenturyLink 833 and Frontier Communications 808. The most effective brands communicate in advance with customers across multiple communications platforms, said Ian Greenblatt, managing director, J.D. Power. Top support companies make it “easy to request service, accurately project the technician arrival time and follow up to address outstanding issues.” The study, fielded in December-January, yielded 4,391 responses.