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HP Tops Respect Rankings Again, but Beaten on PR
A double bill of technology firm rankings from DRNO today, covering online customer experience and media relations / reputation. HP and IBM score highly in both, although Dell scrape into the no.1 spot in the media survey.
Online Customer Experience - Easy Navigation, Poor Response
America's largest computer products & services firms are the latest to be ranked for online customer experience by the Customer Respect Group. HP retain their position at the top of the list with IBM and Xerox not far behind, and Microsoft and Oracle also rating fairly highly.
The study rates all sixty-one firms in the sector which rank among the country's 1000 largest companies.
The study assigns a Customer Respect Index (CRI) rating to each company on a scale of 0 to 10, using both qual and quant measures. Attributes are grouped into six major areas of the customer experience: Simplicity, Privacy, Attitude (customer-focus of the site), Transparency, Responsiveness and Principles (respect for customer data).
Most sites in the sector are considered easy to navigate, receiving their best overall rating (8.2) for Simplicity. 59 of the 61 have privacy policies and most explain them reasonably clearly.
The sector compares poorly with others in terms of 'Principles' attributes: fully 29 per cent of companies share customers' data with unaffiliated third parties without seeking their permission.
It also joins many other sectors in showing poor Responsiveness, (CRI 4.9, its worst rating for any of the six attribute groups). Some 32 per cent of companies did not respond to any inquires while another 23 per cent only responded to half. Of the remaining 45 per cent who respond to all enquiries, 89 per cent responded within 48 hours showing quite a range of performance. 42 per cent of companies who use AutoResponder technology to acknowledge receipt of queries failed in at least half of cases to follow up.
'Research indicates that 82 per cent of Internet users decline to provide any personal information because too many details were asked for that didn't seem necessary', according to Roger Fairchild, president of The Customer Respect Group. 'And 64 per cent decide not to buy online because they aren't certain how their personal data might be used. High-tech firms need to wake up to the fact that sharing information without permission is bad for business. Clearly,' he adds, 'being technologically savvy doesn't correlate directly to providing a high-quality Web site experience'.
The sector's Spring 2004 ranking is as follows:
| |
| |
Total
CRI |
| Hewlett-Packard Company
|
9.5 |
| Science
Applications Int'l Corp. |
9.5 |
| International Business
Machines |
9.0 |
| Xerox
Corporation Inc. |
9.0 |
| Lexmark International |
8.8 |
| Intuit
Inc. |
8.7 |
| GetThere |
8.5 |
| Oracle
Corporation |
8.5 |
| Avnet Inc. |
8.4 |
| Western
Digital Corporation |
8.3 |
| Electronic Data Systems
Corp |
8.3 |
| Unisys
Corporation |
8.2 |
| Microsoft Corporation |
8.2 |
| EarthLink
Inc. |
8.1 |
| IMS Health Inc. |
8.1 |
| EA GAMES
|
8.0 |
| BMC Software Inc. |
7.9 |
| eBay
Inc. |
7.9 |
| Dell Computer Corporation
|
7.9 |
| Pitney
Bowes Inc. |
7.9 |
| Fiserv Inc. |
7.8 |
| Cadence
Design Systems Inc. |
7.7 |
| The Dun
& Bradstreet Corp. |
7.6 |
| NCR Corporation
|
7.5 |
| Ikon Office Solutions Inc. |
7.3 |
| Perot
Systems Corporation |
7.3 |
| Compuware Corporation |
7.2 |
| CDW |
7.2 |
| Sun Microsystems Inc. |
7.0 |
| DST Systems
Inc. |
6.9 |
| Symbol Technologies Inc.
|
6.8 |
| Adobe
Systems Incorporated |
6.8 |
| CellStar Corporation |
6.7 |
| Maxtor
Corporation |
6.6 |
| Novell Inc. |
6.6 |
| Apple
Computer Inc. |
6.6 |
| Veritas Software Corporation
|
6.4 |
| Arrow
Electronics Inc |
6.4 |
| VeriSign Inc |
6.3 |
| Computer
Sciences Corporation |
6.3 |
| BearingPoint Inc. |
6.2 |
| Agilsys
Inc |
6.0 |
| SunGard Data Systems |
5.9 |
| PeopleSoft
Inc. |
5.8 |
| Sabre Airline Solutions
|
5.7 |
| Computer
Associates Int'l |
5.6 |
| Insight Enterprises Inc.
|
5.5 |
| Storage
Technology Corp. |
5.5 |
| Silicon Graphics Inc. |
5.4 |
| First
Data |
5.3 |
| Gateway Inc. |
5.3 |
| Siebel
Systems Inc. |
5.1 |
| Azerty |
5.1 |
| Anixter
International Inc. |
5.0 |
| EMC Corporation |
4.9 |
| Graybar Electric Company
|
4.5 |
| Tech Data Corporation |
4.4 |
| Bell Microproducts Inc. |
4.3 |
| Ingram Micro Inc. |
4.3 |
| Affiliated Computer Services
|
3.8 |
| Brightpoint Inc. |
2.6 |
| |
| Industry
Average |
6.8 |
News Media Perceptions - Dell Beats Off Strong IBM Challenge
PR Scope, the research arm of the League of American Communications Professionals (LACP), has released the results of its 2004 PC Manufacturer Reputation Index, in which America's news media rank the top five PC manufacturers, as determined by CYQ4'03 sales results within the USA.
Dell tops the rankings this year, but is closely followed by IBM who rank first in three of the five attributes. HP is not far behind in third, but there is then a big gap to Gateway and eMachines. The aggregate results across all scoring criteria are as follows:
| |
Overall
(Score) |
Technology
Leadership |
Value |
Customer
Service |
Quality/ Product
Reliability |
Design |
| First |
Dell
(75.27) |
IBM |
Dell |
Dell
|
IBM |
IBM
|
| Second |
IBM (73.96) |
HP |
HP |
IBM |
Dell |
Dell |
| Third |
HP (70.65)
|
Dell |
Gateway
|
HP |
HP |
HP |
| Fourth |
Gateway
(59.54) |
Gateway |
IBM |
Gateway |
Gateway |
Gateway |
| Fifth |
eMachines
(48.08) |
eMachines |
eMachines |
eMachines |
eMachines |
eMachines |
| |
'The news media are clearly one of the most informed and insightful industry observers', said Tyson Heyn, APR, LACP's Principal. 'Their perceptions ... carry considerable leverage in influencing such other key audiences as customers, shareholders, and employees'.
More than 100 top-tier members of the press completed the 70-question survey in March 2004. The results were then compiled and aggregated on a 100-point scale to provide greater context to the Reputation Index results.
The Reputation Index is compiled as part of PR Scope's Company Brand / Communications Team Analysis, which determines not just the best-performing PC manufacturers but also the top companies in terms of relationship and communications management - this includes the measurement of the media's relationship with PC manufacturers' PR teams. 'Rule One in corporate communications is that you respect the news media covering your company', said Heyn. 'If a corporate culture allows PR teams to be inattentive and ill-mannered to the press, it's a relatively safe bet that customers and others aren't being regarded or treated much better'.
More information is available at PR Scope's 2004 PC Manufacturer Reputation Index web site at www.lacp.com/surveys . PR Scope's web site is at www.prscope.com
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