Call centres run by travel and transport companies are among the best at closing a transaction on a first call, but bottom of the industry league table for customer retention, according to a survey.
The study compiled for technology services company Dimension Data did not focus on the UK, but looked at 400 call centres across 42 countries.
Those serving the travel industry were ahead of most sectors on following up queries, calling customers back within an hour on average. Yet only one in five made customer retention a priority, compared with 60% in financial services.
Centres operated by phone companies and internet providers rated the worst for customer satisfaction.
The survey found satisfaction across the industry down from 82% a year ago to 68% today.
Customers of travel call centres have to listen to one of the longest initial messages at an average 33 seconds, but it does not appear to deter too many. One in ten callers across all sectors hang up.
Travel call centres are almost double the size of those in other industries, employing up to 1500 operators.