Small businesses in the UK are turning away from e-mail and relying increasingly on the phone to do business, according to research released today. As the UK is perhaps the closest EU market to that found here in Ireland, the survey results have a certain resonance for the Irish smaller business market.
The survey by internet phone company Vonage found that 41% of small businesses now contact their customers most frequently by phone, compared with 37% which mainly use e-mail.
The companies questioned cited ease of use, speed, cost-effectiveness and enhanced customer experience as the reasons behind the move back to traditional technology.
“It is far more difficult to build a rapport over e-mail than it is over the phone, which is why we are seeing a growing number of small businesses turning back to the phone as the primary means of customer communications,” said Kerry Ritz, managing director of Vonage.
The study found that e-mail was still favoured in instances where a paper trail is necessary.
Internet telephony is also slowly being introduced by SMEs, with one in five small businesses using the technology. This rate, is arguably higher than is currently seen in Ireland, as similar surveys have shown IP telephony to be slow in uptake among SMEs.
The survey questioned 500 UK small businesses and was conducted by Yougov on behalf of Vonage.
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