Eighteen per cent of respondents prefer using e-mail in 2008 versus 10 per cent in 2007, and 13 per cent prefer using the Internet this year compared to 10 per cent last year.

Singaporean women tend to show a higher affinity for using non-interactive tools such as e-mail or touch phone to get their queries resolved, compared to men (60 per cent versus 40 per cent). Men show a stronger liking for speaking to a customer service representative than women (60 per cent versus 40 per cent), and prefer to do business with companies that operate a 24X7 contact centre.

"The results of our survey show a strong correlation between customer loyalty and contact centre experience. This suggests that a business that offers to its customers a contact centre experience on par or higher than that expected from the customer highly increases its probability of retaining and getting referrals from that customer," said Catriona Wallace, director, callcentres.net.