WHICH? Asked thousands of its members….. Are you being served?
Customer service can make or break your relationship with a brand. Which? has just revealed the best and worst brand for service according to UK consumers. Their regular Which? company satisfaction surveys rate providers within certain sectors – such as supermarkets, energy companies or banks – against their rivals overall, but this survey was different.
This time they have uncovered how the UK’s 100 biggest brands measure up on customer service alone, regardless of what they sell.
Their latest report not only names and shames, acknowledges the true stars – in terms of winning brands, super staff and proactive problem solving it highlights how strongly we all feel about where we shop and the brands we engage with and provides a few top tips to consider when looking at your own customer service standards.
Top of the table with a fantastic overall customer service score of 88% was the cosmetics business LUSH – the only brand to achieve an ‘excellent’ five-star rating for having knowledgeable and helpful staff, and for making customers feel valued. Well done LUSH!
Lakeland, First Direct, and John Lewis all featured highly whilst Ryanair, Talk Talk and Npower need to take stock and pull their socks up.
EXPERT VIEW ON SOLVING SERVICE SHORTFALLS
Richard Dilks, Which? policy advisor writes:
As part of our ‘Real Customers, Real Service’, series we’re been investigating what makes an exceptional customer experience. The poet Maya Angelou wrote: ‘while people may forget what you said and did, they always remember how you made them feel’. That’s very true when it comes to customer service. Outstanding service can leave you feeling positive, valued and likely to want to repeat the experience. Terrible customer service can leave you feeling stressed, frustrated, angry and, in many cases, never wanting that experience again.
Here’s our advice for companies who want to inspire loyalty in their customers and keep them coming back for more:
1) Exceptional customer service more than pays for itself.
2) Value your customers and they’ll value you.
3) Invest in your staff.
4) A complaint is a gift.
5) Don’t rest on your laurels.
We couldn’t agree more!
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