SKT named top carrier for customer satisfaction for 23rd straight year

A model promotes SK Telecom's speaking AI customer service. Courtesy of SK Telecom

By Nam Hyun-woo

SK Telecom has consolidated its status as the top mobile communication firm, leading the pack in an annual index gauging customer satisfaction, for the 23rd straight year.

According to the Korea Productivity Center (KPC), SK Telecom scored 79 in the 2020 National Customer Satisfaction Index (NCSI), up 2 points from 77 the carrier logged last year.

SK Telecom has been named the top player among mobile communications firms on the index since 1998, when the KPC began compiling the NCSI.

The company attributed the feat to its efforts to apply artificial intelligence and other advanced information technologies to its telecommunications business, which helped the firm provide contactless services to customers and see growth in its NCSI amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

SK Telecom let its staffers at customer service centers work from home in March, when the COVID-19 pandemic was spreading quickly in Korea, marking the first case among carriers here. In doing so, the company gave more than 2,000 service representatives access to the company's server system and provided telephone customer services without inconveniencing them.

It also introduced a screen-based audience response system for the first time among domestic carriers, to better help senior citizens or hearing-impaired customers. In October, the company launched an artificial intelligence system to provide customer services around the clock.

For customers who lose their smartphones, SK Telecom has launched a separate center providing seamless services including finding lost phones, and providing rental or new phones.

SK Telecom has been holding monthly meetings between CEO and employees since 1997 to analyze customer feedback and explore ideas to better improve its customer services. Also, the company has been running an ombudsman program among employees, so it can check potential inconveniences and improvements before and after launching new services.

“Leading NCSI's mobile communication sector for 23 years in a row shows that customers have reaffirmed their trust in SK Telecom's services,” an official said. “We will spare no efforts to improve customer value, so customers can be proud of using our services.”

Constant surveying improves customer satisfaction

SK Broadband CEO Choi Jin-hwan

In NCIS' 2020 IPTV sector, SK Broadband sat at the No. 1 position, extending its lead in the sector for the 10th straight year.

To enhance customer satisfaction, SK Broadband has been providing ombudsman programs for customers since 2014. The ombudsman is comprised of all age groups so the company can reflect various customer opinions.

Last July, SK Broadband rebranded its B tv service to Lovely B tv, making improvements across its overall service. In doing so, the company launched a new subscription program oriented toward movies and kids channels and introduced a mobile application so customers can watch TV on their smartphones.

It also expanded its original and exclusive content and began to air 24 new channels in high definition.

Following these efforts, a number of indicators show the company's business turned positive at the end of the third quarter last year. At the end of September, the number of SK Broadband subscribers surpassed 8.5 million, and its cancellation rate declined for the first time in three quarters.