Ofcom’s Customer Satisfaction Tracker was released last week. While the findings provided interesting insight into factors like network speed and price, frustrations with customer service were arguably the most striking.

The tracker revealed one in five customers cite ‘poor’ or ‘unhelpful’ customer service as the main cause of dissatisfaction with their broadband provider. According to Sam Wallace, Customer Experience Manager at Quadient, these figures should be a ‘wake-up call’ to telecoms providers: “In today’s ‘always-on’ world, with hybrid working becoming the default, internet access is more important than ever. Customers depend on the internet for their work and personal lives, and expect problems to be dealt with quickly.

“For example, if engineering works will affect their service, customers expect to be notified, in good time and over the platform they’re most likely to see the message on. If a customer prefers to be contacted over the phone, news about possible outages should be communicated via a phone call, rather than by emailing an account the customer doesn’t check.”

Moreover, Wallace explains, it is only becoming easier for customers to switch providers if they are not satisfied: “With the introduction of ‘One Touch Switch’, it’s easier than ever for customers to leave a telco business if they’re unhappy with their customer service. In fact, our research found that 81% of consumers are confident that leaving their telco provider would be simple, or have experienced first-hand how easy the process is.”

With customer expectations and confidence growing that they could switch provider at a moment’s notice, Wallace highlights the need to prioritise customer service. Telco companies can begin, he says, by ensuring communication is “timely, relevant and personalised”.