Verizon ranks highest in satisfying large enterprise business customers

Verizon recently received a top customer satisfaction award. According to the JD Power and Associates 2006 Major Provider Business Telecommunications Data Services Study, Verizon ranks highest in satisfying large enterprise business customers.

The study, now in its sixth year, measures customer satisfaction with providers of data services, such as cable modem, DSL, T1, T3/DS3, Ethernet and Frame Relay.

For the first time, rankings are compiled in two segments: small/midsize businesses (companies with two to 499 employees) and large enterprise businesses (companies with 500 or more employees). Seven key factors are used to measure satisfaction: performance and reliability, billing, cost of service, sales representatives/account executives, company image, offerings and promotions and customer service.

Verizon, which includes previous MCI customers after a 2005 acquisition, ranks highest in customer satisfaction among large enterprise businesses. Verizon also receives the highest ratings in six of the seven factors that measure satisfaction and sets the study benchmark in offerings and promotions, company image and cost of service.

The study finds that company image has become particularly important to business customers when choosing a telecommunications provider in both the small/midsize business and large enterprise segments. Image, performance and reliability and sales representatives/account executives are the three most important factors affecting customer satisfaction. Image was the least important factor in the 2005 study. Conversely, customer service, which was among the most important factors in the 2005 study, is now least important among small/midsize and large business customers in the 2006 study.

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"As mergers and acquisitions among telecom companies reshape the industry, business customers are increasingly concerned about the long-term stability or `image` of their data service provider, even overshadowing the importance of more traditional satisfaction influencers, such as cost and customer service," said Steve Kirkeby, executive director of telecommunications and technology at JD Power and Associates.

The study also finds that while customers in both the small/midsize and large enterprise segments are spending less on telecommunications services when compared to the 2005 study, small/midsize businesses are still significantly less satisfied with offerings and promotions and cost of services. Satisfaction ratings for the offerings and promotions factor among small/midsize businesses are 54 index points (on a 1 000-point scale) lower than satisfaction ratings among large enterprise businesses, and are 45 index points lower for cost of service.

"While 83% of small/midsize business spend less than $1 000 on telecommunications data services in the past year - an increase from the 65% in 2005 - satisfaction levels associated with cost are consistently lower when compared to large enterprise businesses," said Kirkeby. "These lower levels in spending among small/midsize businesses are not necessarily being translated into a value proposition that is resonating with the overall market. Service providers need to re-open lines of communication with this customer base to insure they don`t equate paying less with getting less."

The 2006 Major Provider Business Telecommunications Services Study is based on responses from 6 254 business customers with telecom services at small/midsize and large enterprise US businesses and includes evaluation of their data and voice service providers. Evaluations of voice service providers will be released in late April.