Mini-Survey: Customer Service and Technical Support for Life Science Products

Mini Survey: Customer Service and Technical Support for Life Science Products

Courtesy of BioInformatics, LLC

June 2013

BioInformatics, LLC 2111 Wilson Boulevard Suite 250 Arlington, VA 22201 703.778.3080 703.778.3081 fax www.gene2drug.com Market Insights From Gene to Drug

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Study Overview

In Customer Service and Technical Support for Life Science Products, we explore a few of the customers’ experiences with solving non-technical and technical problems and their preferences when contacting life science suppliers’ support departments. 278 scientists from around the globe who have had a customer service and/or technical support related problem in the last 6 months completed this survey between March 8 and March 15, 2013. Customer Service and Technical Support were defined in this study the following ways: Customer Service: assistance provided after a purchase decision has been made related to order fulfillment, delivery and billing of products (e.g., a non-technical problem). Technical Support: advice and assistance provided related to the use and performance of a product/instrument and identifying the correct product for a particular application/experiment based on your technical needs.


Customer Service

Customer Service


Frequently22%

Rarely35%

Constantly4%

Never3%

Occasionally36%

Customer Service

Answer choice definitions: Constantly: several time a week Frequently: more than once a month Occasionally: once a month Rarely: once or twice a year *Customer Service and Technical Support for Life Science Products: Customer Preferences, Report #11-002, April 2011, BioInformatics, LLC

Overall, compared to 2011 results*, respondents report an increase in the frequency with which they contact customer service. Specifically, there was a 20% increase from 2011 to 2013 in the number of respondents who contacted customer service “frequently” or “occasionally”.

Question 1 — Customer Service In the last 6 months, approximately how often have you contacted customer service for your research products and/or instrumentation? (choose only one)

Respondents=278


43%

36%

36%

33%

24%

24%

23%

18%

17%

12%

1%

Biologicals

Accessories/replacementparts

Equipment/instrumentationcosting >$5,000 USD

Chemicals

Research/specialty kits

Equipment/instrumentationcosting !$5,000 USD

Custom products

Data analysis software

Apparatus

Glassware/plastics

OtherCustomer Service

Respondents more often cite needing customer service for their equipment/instrumentation over $5,000 USD (+11%), and $5,000 USD or less (+8%) and their data analysis software (+9%) than they did in 2011.

Question 2 For which type(s) of products have you most often needed to contact/obtain customer service for a non-technical problem in the last 6 months? (check all that apply)

Respondents=269


Customer Service

Respondents overwhelmingly prefer contacting customer service via email and phone for their non-technical problems.

Question 3 Assuming all of the following channels were available from each life science supplier, which THREE would you most prefer to use when interacting with the customer service department about a non-technical problem? (check up to THREE)

Respondents=268

84%

80%

37%

16%

10%

6%

6%

3%

2%

1%

Email

Phone

"Live"/"Real-time" chatw/ representative

Web self-service

Website FAQ section

Phone/voice self-service

Website complaint form

Supplier-sponsored customer/peer community

Social media/Public platform

Other


48%

21%

30%

27%

28%

18%

37%

6%

34%

32%

16%

39%

12%

28%

23%

31%

28%

26%

22%

29%

8%

26%

30%

20%

31%

22%

18%

19%

16%

16%

9%

17%

20%

17%

5%

16%

9%

14%

11%

19%

8%

18%

14%

11%

14%

6%

10%

5%

9%

10%

7%

5%

6%

8%

14%

10%

6%

18%

15%

19%

26%

18%

13%

8%

9%

5%

5%

6%

6%

7%

6%

6% 12%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

24/7 availability

Ability to help fix a problem quickly

Access to troubleshooting help

Customer-focused attitude

Diagnosing order-relatedproblems efficiently

Immediate access to "live" help


Managing customer complaintspromptly and efficiently

Mobile customer servicesolutions

On-time delivery

Patience and politenesswhen dealing with customers

"Personal" service

Responding to customerrequests promptly

10. Extremely Important 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0. Not At All Important

Customer Service

*Highly important is defined as the percentage of respondents who selected 8, 9 and 10 on the 11-point scale.

Respondents consider the customer service department’s ability to help fix a problem quickly (91%), prompt response to customer requests (87%) and prompt and efficient management of customer complaints (82%) to be highly important*.

Question 4 How IMPORTANT are the following qualities of a life science supplier’s customer service department to you? (choose only one for each)

Respondents=269


49%

26%

14%

9%

2%

Completeness insolving my problem

Speed of solving myproblem

Solving my problemwith one channel

Online tools that allowme to solve a problem

myself

Linking me with othercustomers for adviceand problem solving

tips

Customer Service

Slightly more respondents (+3%) than in 2011 believe that online tools that allow them to solve problems themselves should be a priority of a supplier’s customer service department.

Question 5 What do you believe should be the MOST important priority of a life science supplier’s customer service department to address your non-technical problems? (choose only one)

Respondents=268


32%

20%

19%

19%

3%

3%

2%

1%

<1%

<1%

Competent/capable personnel

Ability to understand my problem quickly

Ability to access to a "live"representative quickly

Accurate problem recognition

Follow-up after an incident toensure issue(s) are resolved

Fast response to my inquiry

Multiple sources of assistance available

Social media responsiveness

Comprehensive FAQ sectionon the website

User-friendly, helpful website

Customer Service

One-third of respondents indicate that competent and capable personnel are the key to a responsive customer service department. This is different than the 2011 results where the ability to access a rep quickly defined “responsive” customer service.

Question 6 What do you believe makes the most responsive customer service? (choose only one)

Respondents=269


Technical Support

Technical Support


Constantly4%

Frequently23%

Rarely32%

Never3%

Occasionally38%

Technical Support

Overall, compared to 2011 results*, respondents report an increase in the frequency with which they contact technical support. Specifically, from 2011 to 2013, there was a 22% increase in the number of respondents who contacted technical support “frequently” or “occasionally”.

Question 1 — Technical Support In the last 6 months, approximately how often have you contacted technical support for your research products and/or instrumentation? (choose only one)

Respondents=278

Answer choice definitions: Constantly: several time a week Frequently: more than once a month Occasionally: once a month Rarely: once or twice a year *Customer Service and Technical Support for Life Science Products: Customer Preferences, Report #11-002, April 2011, BioInformatics, LLC


Technical Support

Respondents more often cite needing technical support for their equipment/instrumentation costing $5,000 USD or less (+10%) and their accessories/replacement parts (+5%) but less often cite needing technical support for their equipment/instrumentation costing more than $5,000 USD (-7%) and their research/specialty kits (-7%) than they did in 2011.

Question 7 For which type(s) of products have you most often required technical support for a technical problem in the last 6 months? (check all that apply)

Respondents=271

41%

33%

27%

25%

18%

17%

17%

16%

14%

5%

<1%

Equipment/instrumentationcosting >$5,000 USD

Biologicals

Equipment/instrumentationcosting !$5,000 USD

Accessories/replacementparts

Custom products

Research/specialty kits

Data analysis software

Chemicals

Apparatus

Glassware/plastics

Other


Technical Service

Respondents overwhelmingly prefer contacting technical support via phone and email for their technical problems.

Question 8 Assuming all of the following methods were available from each life science supplier, which THREE would you most prefer to use when interacting with the technical service department about a technical problem? (check up to THREE)

Respondents=270

79%

77%

43%

10%

10%

9%

7%

6%

6%

3%

1%

1%

1%

Phone

Email

"Live"/"Real-time" chatw/ representative

Web self-service

Support documentation

Phone/voice self-service

Software downloads

Trainingcourses/webinars/tutorial

Website FAQ section

Website complaint form

Social media/Publicplatform

Supplier-sponsoredcustomer/

Other


Technical Support

*Highly important is defined as the percentage of respondents who selected 8, 9 and 10 on the 11-point scale.

Question 9 How IMPORTANT are the following qualities of life science supplier’s technical support department to you? (choose only one for each)

Respondents=271

47%

23%

34%

38%

29%

18%

34%

11%

31%

18%

22%

18%

41%

14%

31%

22%

28%

34%

30%

26%

35%

10%

30%

25%

25%

21%

35%

22%

17%

17%

21%

16%

11%

20%

21%

18%

14%

13%

9%

6%

10%

13%

8%

14%

9%

13%

11%

15%

6%

9%

10%

8%

5%

5%

15%

23%

14%

23%

22%

20%

12%

11%

7%

9%

5%

7%

8%

10%

8%

8%

5% 5% 11%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

24/7 availability

Ability to help fix a problem quickly

Access to troubleshooting help

Customer-focused attitude

Diagnosing product-relatedproblems efficiently



Managing customer complaintspromptly and efficiently

Mobile technical support solutions

Patience and politenesswhen dealing with customers

"Personal" service

Personnel with 2+ yearsof laboratory experience

Personnel with advancedscientific degrees

Responding to customerrequests promptly

10. Extremely Important 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0. Not At All Important

Respondents consider the technical support department’s ability to help fix a problem quickly (92%), prompt response to customer requests (90%) and efficient diagnosis of product-related problems (89%) to be highly important*.


Technical Support

Question 10 What do you believe should be the MOST important priority of life science supplier’s technical support department to address your technical problems? (choose only one)

Respondents=269

56%

19%

14%

5%

4%

2%

Completeness insolving my problem

Personnel with "hands-on" knowledge of the

product line

Speed of solving myproblem

Solving my problemwith one channel

Online tools that allowme to solve a problem

myself

Linking me with othercustomers for adviceand problem solving

tips

Completeness in solving their problems was the highest priority for respondents in 2011 and even more so in 2013 (+8%).


Technical Support

As they did in 2011, respondents indicate that competent or capable personnel make the most responsive technical support and they believe this even more so today (+4%).

Question 11 What do you believe makes the most responsive technical support? (choose only one)

Respondents=268

27%

20%

20%

19%

4%

3%

3%

2%

1%

<1%

<1%

Competent/capable personnel

Ability to access to a "live"representative quickly

Accurate problem recognition

Ability to understand my problem quickly

Technically qualified

Follow-up after an incident toensure issue(s) are resolved

Fast response to my inquiry

Multiple sources of assistance available

Comprehensive FAQ sectionon the website

Social media responsiveness

User-friendly, helpful website


Demographics

Demographics


Demographics

Geographic Region

Respondents=278

North America39%

Europe30%

Rest of World4%

Asia/Pacific27%


Demographics

Market Segment

Respondents=278

Academic68%

Industrial32%

44%

8%

6%

5%

3%

1%

1%

13%

11%

2%

2%

2%

1%

<1%

<1%

Academic/University

Research Institute(non-profit)

Government

Hospital

University MedicalCenter

HealthcareNetwork/Facility

Research Foundation

BiopharmaceuticalCompany

PharmaceuticalCompany

Agriculture/AgriculturalBiotechnology

Contract ResearchOrganization

Research Institute(for profit)

Medical Devices

Commercial TestingLab

Diagnostics

Aca

dem

ic(n

=188

)In

dust

rial

(n=9

0)


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BioInformatics LLC is the premier research and advisory firm serving the life science tools industry. By leveraging our online professional network of tens of thousands of biomedical researchers, we have supported more than 400 companies and provided insights that lead to better business decisions. Our expertise includes assessing the size and attractiveness of markets, optimizing product configurations and pricing, validating corporate acquisitions, measuring customers’ brand loyalty, and evaluating brand strength and positioning. Since 1994, BioInformatics LLC has been providing off-the-shelf reports, custom-designed studies and market analysis that enable companies to understand their market and competitors through the eyes of the most important information source of all—the people who buy their products.

BioInformatics, LLC

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703.778.3080 x15 [email protected]

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703.778.3080 x22 [email protected]

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