19 Entertainment and Media Firms Ranked on How They Treat Online Customers in Winter 2004 Online Customer Respect Study.Business Editors/High-Tech Writers BELLEVUE Bellevue (bĕl`vy  ).1 City (1990 pop. 30,982), Sarpy co., E Nebr., a suburb of Omaha, on the Missouri River; inc. 1855. , Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 27, 2004 21 Percent Share Data With Third Parties Without Permission; 37 Percent Don't don't 1. Contraction of do not. 2. Nonstandard Contraction of does not. n. A statement of what should not be done: a list of the dos and don'ts. Respond to All Online Inquiries The Customer Respect Group, an international research and consulting firm Noun 1. consulting firm - a firm of experts providing professional advice to an organization for a fee consulting company business firm, firm, house - the members of a business organization that owns or operates one or more establishments; "he worked for a that focuses on how corporations treat their customers online, today released the results of its Winter 2004 Online Customer Respect Study of select entertainment and media firms that rank among the countries largest 1000 companies. Overall, Bertelsmann AG Bertelsmann AG German media company. Beginning as a religious printer and publisher in 1835, the company grew steadily over the next century. Though virtually destroyed by Allied bombing in 1945, it recovered quickly after World War II. scored highest, while Mail-Well Inc. scored lowest in the first Online Customer Respect report for this industry The study is the only one to bring objective measure to the analysis of corporate performance from an online customer's perspective. It assigns Individuals to whom property is, will, or may be transferred by conveyance, will, Descent and Distribution, or statute; assignees. The term assigns is often found in deeds; for example, "heirs, administrators, and assigns to denote the assignable nature of a Customer Respect Index (CRI CRI constant-rate infusion. (TM)) rating to each company on a scale of one to 10, with 10 being the highest achievable score. The Customer Respect Index is a qualitative qualitative /qual·i·ta·tive/ (kwahl´i-ta?tiv) pertaining to quality. Cf. quantitative. qualitative pertaining to observations of a categorical nature, e.g. breed, sex. and quantitative in-depth in-depth adj. Detailed; thorough: an in-depth study. in-depth Adjective detailed or thorough: an in-depth analysis analysis and independent measure of a customer's online experience when interacting with companies via the Internet Internet Publicly accessible computer network connecting many smaller networks from around the world. It grew out of a U.S. Defense Department program called ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network), established in 1969 with connections between computers at the . By interviewing a representative sample of the adult Internet population, and by analyzing more than 1000 Web sites across a spectrum of industries in detail, The Customer Respect Group has determined the attributes that combine to create the entire online customer experience. These attributes have been grouped together and measured as indicators of Simplicity (ease of navigation), Privacy (respects customer privacy), Attitude (customer-focus of site), Transparency (1) The quality of being able to see through a material. The terms transparency and translucency are often used synonymously; however, transparent would technically mean "seeing through clear glass," while translucent would mean "seeing through frosted glass." See alpha blending. (open and honest policies), Responsiveness (quick and thorough responses to inquiries) and Principles (values and respects customer data). Combined they measure a company's overall Customer Respect. Select Sector Comparisons While a commendable com·mend tr.v. com·mend·ed, com·mend·ing, com·mends 1. To represent as worthy, qualified, or desirable; recommend. 2. To express approval of; praise. See Synonyms at praise. 3. 95 percent of these firms state privacy policies, a shocking 21 percent of them say they share visitors' data with unaffiliated third parties without seeking the visitors' explicit permission. In addition, it was difficult to determine what more than one-third of these firms did with personal data. This displays a very negative attitude towards site visitors and ignores valid customer concerns about their online privacy. Some 37 percent either did not respond at all or only responded to half of the online inquiries submitted to them and none achieved a perfect score of 10 for Responsiveness. In other industry reports, several companies achieved a score of 10 in this index. "A sector focused on entertaining and communicating should be doing a better job of conveying privacy policies and responding to inquiries," said Roger Fairchild Roger Fairchild was a Republican politician from Idaho active in the 1980s and early 1990s. He was the Republican nominee for Governor of Idaho in 1990. Fairchild was decisively defeated by the Democratic incumbent, Cecil D. Andrus, winning in only one of Idaho's 44 counties. , president of The Customer Respect Group. "We'd we'd 1. Contraction of we had. 2. Contraction of we should. 3. Contraction of we would. we'd have ~would like these organizations to look more closely at their sites to determine how they can improve. Research clearly shows that they will improve customer retention and increase revenue if they do so." The highest ranked organization within the sector was Bertelsman AG at 8.8 (out of 10), while the lowest was Mail-Well, Inc. at 3.7. The sector's average was 6.9. Beyond these scores, the report conveys in great detail improvement opportunities for each company. The sector's Winter 2004 ranking is as follows: Company Name CRI ----------------------------------------- Bertelsmann AG 8.8 Hallmark 8.6 AMC Entertainment, Inc. 8.6 American Greetings Corporation 8.4 The Walt Disney Company 8.3 The Reader's Digest Association,Inc. 8.2 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. 7.8 Time Warner 7.6 Overture Services, Inc. 7.3 Google, Inc. 7.1 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. 6.8 Regal Entertainment Group 6.6 Ask Jeeves, Inc. 6.2 Liberty Media Corporation 5.9 Yahoo! Inc. 5.7 Vivendi Universal 5.6 CompuServe Interactive Services, Inc. 5.0 Moore Wallace Incorporated. 4.0 Mail-Well, Inc. 3.7 ----------------------------------------- Industry Average 6.9 Other findings for sector firms include the following: -- Surveyed firms receive the best overall rating (CRI: 7.9) for Simplicity and the worst (CRI: 5.1) for Responsiveness. -- Of those 16 that provide a means of response, 12 percent of firms did not respond to any online inquiries. -- 63 percent responded to all inquiries. Of these, 80 percent responded within 48 hours and the remaining 20 percent responded after four days. -- 25 percent of firms responded to half of the inquiries received. Of these, 50 percent responded within 48 hours and 50 percent responded after four days. -- Some 56 percent of all sector firms use Autoresponder A mail utility that automatically sends a reply to an e-mail message. Autoresponders are used to send back boilerplate information on a topic without having the requester do anything more than e-mail a particular address. They are also used to send a confirmation that the message has been received. technology, in which emails are automatically sent back to users to confirm the receipt of their inquiry and let them know when they should expect a response. Of these, 67 percent followed with a full response, 22 percent followed up half of their Autoresponses with a reply. Another 11 percent didn't did·n't Contraction of did not. didn't did not didn't do follow up with a reply. -- Some 63 percent of companies provide email forms for online inquiries. -- 21 percent provide email addresses See Internet address. . An additional 16 percent provide only offline contacts such as phone numbers or postal addresses. -- Some 37 percent provide a keyword search function on their site. -- 95 percent of sector firms have privacy policies on their sites explaining how customers' personal data is being used. Of those that do, 37 percent need to be more explicit about how they use personal data, 32 percent do not collect data or use collected data only for internal purposes, 10 percent share data with affiliates or subsidiaries and 21 percent share data without permission from users. -- Some 79 percent use cookie cookie File or part of a file put on a Web user's hard disk by a Web site. Cookies are used to store registration data, to make it possible to customize information for visitors to a Web site, to target Web advertising, and to keep track of the products a user wishes to technology. Of these, 7 percent provide a full explanation of how cookies can be disabled, 73 percent mention that they can be disabled, 13 percent explain how cookies work and 7 percent don't mention cookies at all. How to Order Each company and industry is researched and analyzed an·a·lyze tr.v. an·a·lyzed, an·a·lyz·ing, an·a·lyz·es 1. To examine methodically by separating into parts and studying their interrelations. 2. Chemistry To make a chemical analysis of. 3. twice annually. Subscribers to Customer Respect Online receive: -- Industry-specific key findings, analysis and editorials for one-or-more subscribed industry reports -- Dynamic league tables for CRI and each CRI sub-index scoring for all companies -- CRI report cards for each company covered in that report -- Detailed own-company confidential report -- Best practice guidelines practice guidelines Medical practice A set of recommendations for Pt management that identifies a specific or range of range of management strategies. See Peer review organization, Practice standards. Cf 'Cookbook' medicine. , practical customer respect examples -- Analysis tools for head-to-head head-to-head adv. & adj. 1. In direct confrontation or conflict at close quarters: The two brothers went at it head-to-head. It was a head-to-head contest all the way. 2. and multi-company comparisons with drill-down to sub-indices detail -- Annual Fortune 100 CRI Report (annual subscribers only) Customer Respect Online is available in three different subscription levels to suit specific requirements: -- Immediate Action: Includes one research cycle, one single industry report, one company confidential report, three months of online access to CRO for $5,000. -- Continuous Improvement: Includes two research cycles, two single industry reports, two company confidential reports, 12 months of CRO access, Fortune 100 CRI Report and data for $15,000. -- Portfolio Perspective: Includes two research cycles, all industry reports, four company confidential reports, 12 months of CRO access, Fortune 100 CRI Report and data for $25,000. Companies can obtain additional information by visiting the Web site, www.CustomerRespect.com, calling 425-454-4151 or emailing info@customerrespect.com. About The Customer Respect Group The Customer Respect Group is an international research and consulting firm that uses its Customer Respect Index (CRI(TM)) methodology to help companies improve how they treat their customers online. It provides leadership in the objective and scientific measurement of a customer's online experience. Many of the largest U.S. companies have already adopted the CRI methodology to improve online customer satisfaction and loyalty. The Customer Respect Group is headquartered in Bellevue, WA. For additional information, visit www.customerrespect.com. All companies and products listed herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders. |
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