Improve Customer Satisfaction While Driving Down Costs

BOSTON, MA--(Marketwire - June 5, 2007) - Are you improving customer satisfaction and retention through your contact center, while driving down costs? In a recent survey conducted by Aberdeen, a Harte-Hanks Company (NYSE: HHS), over three-fourths of survey respondents who have implemented self service into the contact center have seen a 25% improvement in customer satisfaction. One-third of companies surveyed are planning to implement self service into their contact center in the next 24 months.

The pressures driving companies to implement self service are varied. Sixty-two percent of BIC companies highlighted competition as the top pressure for implementing self service. The need to reduce operating costs came in as the second pressure with 57% of BIC respondents indicating this on the survey. On the other hand 81% of Laggard companies and 67% of Average companies identified the need to reduce operating costs as the top pressure, with the need to remain competitive coming in second.

BIC companies are addressing competitive pressures by extending the contact center to the web, and driving more customers to the website. BIC companies are more likely than industry average and laggards to allow their customers access to support issues via the web (37% vs 30% vs 29% respectively). BIC companies are also offering their customers low cost service options to entice them to use less expensive modes of access, such as e-mail and live chat.

"Only 62% of average companies versus 92% of BIC companies currently offer issue tracking through the web," says Alan Hubbard, SVP Customer Management Technologies Group at Aberdeen. "With the ability to check the status of their support issues on the web, customers will not have to call the agents, helping improve customer satisfaction."

The research, underwritten by Aspect Software and Neocase Software, shows readers those factors, which contribute to the success of a self service implementation. It also provides the results that companies have seen across key metrics, after implementing a self service solution, and compares these companies against those who have not pursued a similar strategy.

To obtain a complimentary copy of the report, visit: http://www.aberdeen.com/link/sponsor.asp?cid=3992

About Aberdeen Group, a Harte-Hanks Company

Aberdeen is a leading provider of fact-based research and market intelligence that delivers demonstrable results. Having benchmarked more than 30,000 companies in the past two years, Aberdeen is uniquely positioned to educate users to action: driving market awareness, creating demand, enabling sales, and delivering meaningful return-on-investment analysis. As the trusted advisor to the global technology markets, corporations turn to Aberdeen™ for insights that drive decisions.

As a Harte-Hanks Company, Aberdeen plays a key role of putting content in context for the global direct and targeted marketing company. Aberdeen's analytical and independent view of the "customer optimization" process of Harte-Hanks (Information - Opportunity - Insight - Engagement - Interaction) extends the client value and accentuates the strategic role Harte-Hanks brings to the market. For additional information, visit Aberdeen http://www.aberdeen.com or call (617) 723-7890, or to learn more about Harte-Hanks, call (800) 456-9748 or go to http://www.harte-hanks.com.

Contact Information: Media Contact: Alan Hubbard Aberdeen Harte-Hanks (617) 854-5301 Alan.hubbard@aberdeen.com