Concerned about the rising volume of player complaints on WhichBingo.co.uk, Commercial Director Simon Jones initiated a research project in April 2013 to investigate the quality of customer support in online bingo. Commenting on the research project Jones said “we wanted to look into why there are so many complaints coming from online bingo players on our main portal. I’m not a bingo player myself but if I was, I’d want a bingo brand to hear my concerns.” He continues “Whilst our main portal has the facility for bingo brand owners to respond to player complaints, it’s rare we see any interaction between the two parties. We’re equally concerned that bingo brand managers are not doing enough to support their customers online.” The team at Focus reviewed 75 online bingo sites using a quantitative approach. This method was used to measure the types of support channels each bingo brand had available to new players wanting to join the site including telephone, email, live help, Facebook and Twitter. Of the 75 sites reviewed, 30 were then chosen for the qualitative research part of the project. This method looked at the overall quality of the support channels if they were available. For example, reviewing the email support channel, the bingo sites were all emailed the same question at the same time and the responses were measured against; time of response, quality of the response, accuracy of the response (compared to information on their respective websites) and overall customer satisfaction experience. Headline statistics from the qualitative research revealed; 99% of sites have a support email address or website form. 72% of sites have a support telephone number. 40% of sites have live chat / help (excludes in game chat). 47% of sites have a Twitter account. 66% of sites have a Facebook page. The research shows some interesting statistics and at the same time some worrying patterns, particularly the lack of attention given to social media channels. The research suggests that telephone and email remain the strongest customer support channels however; social media was either very poor or non-existent in some cases. Surprisingly, statistics for the live help channel suggest only 60% of operators offer this service. One would have thought that the immediacy of online customer support queries could be quickly and simply resolved with a quick chat with “Alice”, wherever in the world he or she might actually be. Overall, the research suggests there is room for improvement across all areas of online customer support. Whilst some of the larger brands, and most interestingly those with a sports book product were the best equipped and most responsive, there are still some big names with issues that need addressing.

1. The Quality of Customer Support
in Online Bingo
A Research Project
By Focus Online Management
Presented by Simon Jones, Commercial Director
1st May 2013

2. • Market need
• Quantitative Research
• Qualitative Research
• Conclusions
• Bingo.org.uk
• Questions
Agenda
The Quality of Customer Support in Online Bingo

3. The Quality of Customer Support in Online Bingo

4. • Lists all UK bingo websites currently 350
• Each bingo site has a review
• Anyone can leave their own review / comment
• Comments are usually complaints about bonuses, play through
rules or withdrawal restrictions
• Brands can comment or reply but often don't
• We don't want complaints we want quality content
The Quality of Customer Support in Online Bingo

5. • Customers and players are often not being heard
• There is a genuine need for a "complaint“ channel
• This led us to look at the quality of customer support in the
online bingo marketplace
Understanding the need of the customer
The Quality of Customer Support in Online Bingo

6. • Across the market not just individual brands
• Quantitative and Qualitative research
• 75 bingo sites using Quantitative approach
• 30 of the 75 bingo sites using Qualitative approach
• We asked a range of customer support questions through a
mystery shopper approach
• Conducted between 17th - 24th April 2013
Scope of the research
The Quality of Customer Support in Online Bingo

7. Quantitative
Research

8. • 75 bingo sites
• What support channels do they have
• Email, Phone, Live Help, Facebook, Twitter
Our approach
The Quality of Customer Support in Online Bingo

9. Thank you for you response. I
am having problems redeeming
my loyality points, i have 7562
points with chat games and
buying tickets. my username is
xxxxxx. Thanks again xx
Dragonfish Bingo Brand
Why social media?
@FreeBingoUK: get a grip
Eric!! What's going on with
the FB site??
Freebingo.co.uk
The Quality of Customer Support in Online Bingo

10. • 99% of sites have a support email address or website form
• 72% of sites have a support telephone number
• 40% of sites have live chat / help (excludes in game chat)
• 47% of sites have a Twitter account
• 66% of sites have a Facebook page / account
Quantitative research - Headlines
Facebook now
gives a reach of
just over 30m
unique users for
the UK
Twitter’s age
profile is
dominated by the
25-44 age group
accounting for
over 60%
of users
The Quality of Customer Support in Online Bingo

11. Qualitative
Research

12. • 30 bingo sites
• How effective are the support channels?
• Form a new player perspective
• 5 questions, same question asked in each channel
• Not every brand had all 5 channels
Our approach
The Quality of Customer Support in Online Bingo

13. • 17% answered within 10 seconds
• 21% got straight through to a human voice
• 38% were put straight on hold
• Outsourced and overseas
Qualifying the support - Telephone
“Hi, could you tell me what bonus I get if I deposit £20?
Do I also get a bonus on any other deposits?”
The Quality of Customer Support in Online Bingo

14. • 30% responded within one hour
• 86% responded on the same day
• 27% of responses were vague or unhelpful overall
The Evolution of Customer Support in Online Bingo
Qualifying the support - Email
"I was wondering, if I join your bingo site what restrictions or
rules are there on me getting my winnings?"
The Quality of Customer Support in Online Bingo

15. Qualifying the support - Live Help / Chat
"I’m looking to join your site and wanted to know if I get any
bonus money can I withdraw it after I've played some games?"
• 18% chat not available
• 70% slow to respond
• 12% did not answer the question directly
The Quality of Customer Support in Online Bingo

16. Qualifying the support - Facebook
"Is there any free money available to play with or do
I have to deposit?"
• 27% responded within 30 mins
• 40% responded within one hour
• 47% responded on the same day
• 82% of responses were accurate
The Quality of Customer Support in Online Bingo

17. Qualifying the support - Twitter
"Hi. What deposit bonus do I get on my first deposit
as a new player? I’m thinking of joining."
• 2 responded within the hour...
• ...we didn't get any more responses within 48 hrs
• The 2 received were accurate and helpful
The Quality of Customer Support in Online Bingo

18. • Telephone – 20% didn’t offer phone support
• Email – 14% failed to respond within 2 days
• Live help - 40% didn’t offer Live Help support
• Facebook – 47% failed to respond within 2 days
• Twitter – 86% failed to respond within 2 days
The Evolution of Customer Support in Online Bingo
Other findings
The Quality of Customer Support in Online Bingo

19. The Evolution of Customer Support in Online Bingo
What have we learned?
• Telephone and Email are the best 'manned’ channels
• Live Help is poor
• Facebook and Twitter the worst response channel
• All support channels have room for improvement
• Support should be an opportunity to transform disgruntled
players into brand ambassadors
• There is a clearly a need for an additional “complaint” channel
The Quality of Customer Support in Online Bingo

20. • Acquired Bingo.org.uk in October 2012
• Was just another WordPress affiliate website
• Until we repositioned...
Bingo.org.uk
The Quality of Customer Support in Online Bingo

21. • Facilitating open communication between players and brand
owner response channels
• We want to encourage open, clear discussion and clarification of
the issues players want to discuss
HOWEVER
• We don't want to be an Industry Ombudsman
• We don't want to be the Players Champion
The Quality of Customer Support in Online Bingo

22. Facilitating open communication between players and brand owners
• Unique A-E ranking system on
o Deposit Offers and Methods
o Wagering Requirements
o Withdrawal Rules
o Support Options
• At a glance brand dashboard
overview
• Brand owner support
and response widget
The Quality of Customer Support in Online Bingo

23. Thank you.
Simon Jones
simon@focusonlinemanagement.com
0113 393 0500
The Quality of Customer Support in Online Bingo