instituteofcustomerservice.com
The state of customer satisfaction in the UK
instituteofcustomerservice.com
foreword
The January
2015
UKCSI reveals a fourth
consecutive fall in customer satisfaction. UK
customers are now, on average, less satisfied
with the service they receive than at any point
since July
2010
.
I believe that these results reflect profound
shifts in the market environment. Customers’
expectations have evolved rapidly, leading to an
ever-growing desire for convenience, speed and
value. Moreover, we expect the service experience
to be more personalised than before, with
organisations expected to anticipate our current
and potentially future needs.
As customer expectations have evolved, some
organisations have evolved with them or even
ahead of them. This report shows that a number
from a range of sectors deliver consistently high
UKCSI scores, indicating a sustained focus on
meeting – and where possible exceeding – what
customers expect.
But no fewer than
58
% of the organisations in
UKCSI have seen their customer satisfaction score
fall by more than one point over the past year.
Meanwhile the average satisfaction rating in all but
two of the
13
sectors in UKCSI has dropped over
the same period.
The business risks of service under-performance
are acute. As UKCSI reveals, customer behaviour
is strongly influenced by service quality.
Organisations that deliver better service benefit
from more recommendations, driving customer
acquisition and sales. They also create more
customer loyalty and trust. For the retail food
sector, the research demonstrates a striking and
consistent link between service levels and growth
in market share.
In the relationship economy, customer
relationships are a critical factor in business
success, as are relationships with suppliers,
partners and employees. In this new environment,
those organisations that put service at the heart
of their business models and collaborate to
deliver the end-to-end experience will be the most
successful.
Given the clear links between customer service
and business outcomes, the findings in this report
should serve as a call to action for organisations
across all sectors. The results have national
implications as well. The ability of UK companies
to compete successfully in international markets
depends on the service skills, leadership and
innovation they demonstrate, as does the ability
of UK plc to attract inward-investment as a great
place to do business.
I believe that organisations have much to gain
by driving a genuine and sustained focus on the
service agenda and the results of the UKCSI serve
to prove this point.
Joanna Causon
contents
UKCSI January 2015: key findings 3
Customer satisfaction in the UK: the state of the nation 4
Customer service in 13 sectors 5
The new environment for customer service 10
Why customer service matters 13
Customer satisfaction and employee engagement 17
Trends in customer satisfaction measures 19
The customer service performance of organisations 21
The downward trend in customer
satisfaction continues
Customer satisfaction, as measured by the UKCSI at the national level, is now lower than at any point since July 2010. This suggests that organisations in the UK are not keeping up with customers’ increasing expectations of service and that many are missing out on the business performance benefits of high and/or improving customer satisfaction.
Only two sectors have improved
customer satisfaction
Of the 13 sectors covered in UKCSI, Utilities have delivered the most improved average customer satisfaction ratings over the past year, with a rise of 1.9 (out of 100) since January 2014. Banks & Building Societies is the only other sector to have registered an improvement over the period, albeit by just 0.3 points. Meanwhile, three water companies – Southern Water, Yorkshire Water and United Utilities – have registered the largest improvements in customer satisfaction by any organisation during this period.
Customer segments offer contrasting
levels of satisfaction
The most significant contrast between customer segments revealed by UKCSI is around age groups. Younger people are considerably less satisfied as customers, underlining the importance of understanding the needs and satisfaction levels of different customer groups.
Service drives sales and market share in
the Retail Food sector
For the sixth consecutive period, leading food retailers with a UKCSI score above the Retail Food sector average have grown their combined market share, while the below average competitors in the sector have lost market share.
Service drives customer engagement,
trust and loyalty
The UKCSI results provide evidence of the link between customer satisfaction and business outcomes. Highly satisfied customers are significantly more likely than less satisfied customers to make a recommendation, remain as customers and feel a sense of trust towards the organisation.
Satisfaction ratings related to speed,
complaints and staff issues have fallen
In the past two years, customers have reduced their ratings on 26 of the 28 customer experience metrics included in UKCSI. Some of the most significant declines can be seen in metrics relating to three key areas: speed/responsiveness, complaints handling and staff behaviour/attitude.
Consistent high scorers dominate the
UKCSI top
10
A group of seven organisations has consistently scored over 83 (out of 100) in UKCSI over the past two years. One of these organisations, John Lewis, is the highest rated named organisation in UKCSI January 2015.
Employee engagement is strongly linked
with customer satisfaction
Those sectors where customers rate employees to be more engaged tend to deliver higher levels of customer satisfaction, indicating the critical role of employee engagement in improving and sustaining service.
key findings
customer satisfaction
in the UK:
the state of the nation
Based on the experiences of
10,000
customers across
13
sectors of the economy, the UKCSI reveals the
trend in customer satisfaction at the national level. The January
2015
findings indicate that customer
satisfaction continues to be under pressure, with a drop in the index of
0.3
points compared to July
2014
,
and a drop of
1.1
points since January
2014
. This decline continues a downward trend recorded since
customer satisfaction “peaked” at
78.2
in January
2013
. At
76.0
, the index is now lower than at any point
since July
2010
.
We believe this downward trend in customer satisfaction is due to a combination of factors associated with
market environment changes, shifts in customer expectations, preferences and behaviour and in some
cases, a number of organisations that have not focused sufficiently on their customer service strategies
and delivery.
What is the trend in customer satisfaction
?
Jan-09 Jul-09 Jan-10 Jul-10 Jan-11 Jul-11 Jan-12 Jul-12 Jan-13 Jul-13 Jan-14 Jul-14 Jan-15
UK
Customer Satisfaction Index (U
KC SI ) 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 77.1 77.9 78.2 78.0 77.4 77.3 76.7 75.6 75.2 74.1 72.0 76.3 76.0
customer satisfaction
in
13
sectors
UKCSI scores by sector
50 60 70 80 90 100 Retail (Non-food) 81.482.2 83.1 Retail (Food) 79.680.9 81.0 Tourism 79.479.8 80.0 Automotive 78.679.7 80.5 Banks & Building Societies 78.477.7 78.1 Leisure 78.379.6 80.9 Insurance 77.177.6 78.9 Services 77.078.8 80.2 Transport 72.372.1 72.5 Public Services (Local) 72.171.9 72.8 Telecommunications & Media 71.672.2 73.3 Public Services (National) 71.370.9 71.9 Utilities 70.969.4 69.0 Jan-15 Jul-14 Jan-14
Sectors in category UKCSI performance Characteristics
Retail (Non-food and Food) Tourism
Automotive Leisure Insurance Services
UKCSI down but remains above all-sector average
• Characterised by a high level of competition and customer demand for speed and convenience
• Most – but not all – organisations set strategic priorities based on the role of service in driving business
performance
• Some organisations have focused on gaining market share in the short term but not addressed
sustainable improvements that drive customer satisfaction and loyalty
Banks &
Building Societies
UKCSI up slightly and above all-sector average
• Sector has maintained satisfaction levels year-on-year • Regulatory and media focus on business practices and
treatment of customers has highlighted links between service, reputation and business performance
• Improved ability of customers to switch banks likely to incentivise further investment in improving service • First Direct and Nationwide both feature in the UKCSI
top 10 – showing that high customer satisfaction can be achieved and sustained; however, four of the 13 banks covered in UKCSI score below the all-sector average of
76.0
Telecommunications & Media
UKCSI down and remains below all-sector average
• A wide range of ratings between different providers • Strong links between higher customer satisfaction and
trust, reputation, recommendation and repurchase • The sector which consistently generates the highest
proportion of problems and complaints for customers
The UKCSI scores and change in scores of the last 13 sectors in UKCSI present significant contrasts.
1. The full details of the performance of individual organisations in each sector can be found in the UKCSI Sector Reports. These are available from The Institute of Customer Service.
Sectors in category UKCSI performance Characteristics
Transport UKCSI down and remains below all-sector average
• A wide range of ratings between different providers • Strong links between higher customer satisfaction and
trust, reputation, recommendation and repurchase • Sector with the highest proportion of customers who
don’t report problems
Public Services (Local and National)
UKCSI down and remains below all-sector average
Challenges include:
• Rising customer expectations and demand • Budget pressures
• Fragmentation of services
• How to incentivise innovation in environments which are traditionally risk averse
UKCSI shows the wide range of customer satisfaction scores between different branches of the public sector
Utilities UKCSI up slightly and above all-sector average
• Remains the lowest scoring of 13 UKCSI sectors but biggest improvement – 1.9 points – in the past year • Three water companies are the top three improvers in
UKCSI
• Four of the “big six” energy companies have
improved their UKCSI score by more than one point in the past year
Change in UKCSI score (Jan 2014 to Jan 2015 ) 70 72 74 76 78 80 82 -4 0 -1 -2 -3 1 2 3
Sector UKCSI score, Jan 2015 Utilities
Transport
Banks & Building Societies
Tourism Insurance Automotive Leisure Services Retail (Food) Retail (Non-food) Public Services (Local)
Public Services (National)
Telecommunications & media
UKCSI all-sector average = 76.0
UKCSI down and remains below all-sector average UKCSI down but remains above all-sector average UKCSI up but remains below all-sector average UKCSI up slightly and above all-sector average
UKCSI score January 2015 UKCSI score July 2014 UKCSI score January 2014 Change in UKCSI January 2015 - January 2014 Highest scoring organisation in the sector
Retail (Non-food) 81.4 82.2 83.1 -1.7 John Lewis (87.2)
Retail (Food) 79.6 80.9 81.0 -1.4 Ocado
(85.4)
Tourism 79.4 79.8 80.0 -0.6 Center Parcs
(82.9)
Automotive 78.6 79.7 80.5 -1.9 Skoda
(82.9) Banks & Building Societies 78.4 77.7 78.1 +0.3 First Direct (86.7)
Leisure 78.3 79.6 80.9 -2.6 Greggs (82.5)
Insurance 77.1 77.6 78.9 -1.8 LV=
(83.5)
Services2 77.0 78.8 80.2 -3.2 Autoglass
(80.2)
Transport 72.3 72.1 72.5 -0.2 Thomson Airways (82.8)
Public Services (Local) 72.1 71.9 72.8 -0.7 Your local library (81.9)
Telecommunications & Media 71.6 72.2 73.3 -1.7 Tesco Mobile
(82.5)
Public Services (National) 71.3 70.9 71.9 -0.6 DVLA
(76.2)
Utilities 70.9 69.4 69.0 +1.9 Yorkshire Water
(77.3)
UKCSI scores and change in scores by sector
2. The average UKCSI score of the Services sector has been reduced by the inclusion of Royal Mail in the sector from the July 2014 survey onwards. This change follows the government’s sale of a majority share in the organisation. Without this addition, the Services sector score for January 2015 would be 79.0, which is a drop of 1.2
3.The report is available through the Institute’s website at www.instituteofcustomerservice.com/research
4.See for example the analysis in the annual Edelmann Barometer, a summary of which is available online at www.edelman.com
5. CBI (2014), Research on business trust
6. Starbucks backlash was not just froth by Michael Skapiner. Financial Times, 14 July 2014
7. Data is taken from the UKCSI January 2015 survey results. For the previous results see the UKCSI July 2014 Executive Summary by the Institute of Customer Service, available online here: http://www.instituteofcustomerservice.com/5629-15640/UKCSI-July-2014-Executive-Summary.html
8.See for exampleSainsbury’s (2012), The Rise of New Fashioned Values
Decline in trust • Levels of trust in organisations have fallen4
• Recent research from the CBI suggests that few customers instinctively trust business5 • In a Financial Times poll, nearly two-thirds of UK voters said they wanted the next
government to be tougher on big business6 Diversity of customer
segments • There are markedly different levels of customer satisfaction in different customer segments • This research demonstrates different levels of satisfaction by age group, region and
socio-economic group
• Young people are on average less satisfied. But where they are satisfied they are more likely to recommend organisations
An intense focus on value
• An enduring legacy of the recession is an intense focus on value
• UKCSI has consistently shown a range of different attitudes to the relative importance placed on service and price
• 62% of customers want a balance of price and service with at least a minimum threshold standard of service7
• 23% indicate a preference for excellent service, even if it costs more
• 14% of customers seek the cheapest possible deals and will sacrifice levels of service to achieve them
Changing attitudes to
ethics and sustainability •• New attitudes to ethical and sustainable business are emergingCustomers who are more selective with their spending also have higher expectations of products and services and the organisations they deal with, including values that are important to them personally such as quality, integrity and sustainability8
the new environment for
customer service
The Institute’s research published in November
2014
, Beyond Measurement: customer service and
business performance
3, highlighted a range of factors which are forcing organisations fundamentally to
rethink relationships with customers.
Emotional factors • Growing complexity, technological change, the decline in trust and economic pressures have heightened customers’ emotional needs and make it more critical for organisations to find authentic ways of connecting with them
• There is also evidence that emotional factors are increasingly important in B2B buying decisions, often connected with the consequence of the decision for an employee’s career or job security9
Omnichannel and
technology •• Customers use of technology has shifted rapidly to mobility and always-on accessTablets will outsell all PCs and laptops worldwide for the first time in 201510 • Many customers – especially active online users – are receptive to personalised
services, which anticipate and reflect their needs based on insight about preferences and purchasing behaviour, but this needs to be managed intelligently
• Transparency of information means that customers increasingly refer to
recommendations. Many organisations have reported that customers benchmark their service against market leaders such as Amazon and John Lewis
• Some customers are willing – indeed increasingly expect – deeper and ongoing relationships with organisations and active involvement in co-creating products and services; they are also expecting organisations to provide an end-to-end service experience, which may mean outside of the actual organisation – driving organisations to collaborate across company boundaries
Employee engagement • There is growing awareness of the link between engaged, knowledgeable, helpful employees and customer satisfaction and business performance11
Levels of investment in
customer service •• During the economic downturn, many organisations cut investment in customer serviceAs growth has begun to return, investment has often focused on short term objectives of customer acquisition rather than a consistent and sustained focus on the whole customer experience
9. CEB Marketing Leadership (2013), From Promotion to Emotion: Connecting B2B Customers to Brands
10.See www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/2791017
11. See the report Are you being engaged? Employee engagement and its influence on customer satisfaction and buying behaviour, as published by the Institute of Customer Service in 2014
Analysis of the demographic data in UKCSI shows that there are important variations in customer
satisfaction between broadly-defined groups of customers. This is particularly true when segmenting by
age, with younger people claiming significantly lower levels of satisfaction.
Analysis of the UKCSI results shows that these lower satisfaction levels among younger age groups are
reflected in the levels of trust and loyalty they feel towards the organisations they deal with. However,
among the
18
–24
age group in particular there is a noticeable tendency to make recommendations.
Despite their relatively low average satisfaction levels,
42
% of
18
–24
s have recommended the
organisation they have dealt in the past six months, a higher proportion than for any other age group.
This indicates that organisations that can raise satisfaction among younger customers will benefit from
increased word of mouth, particularly via online channels.
Satisfaction varies between customer groups
W ales 77.3 Nor thern England 76.6 Scotland 76.6 South W est England 76.3 Central England 76.2 Nor thern Ireland 75.9
South East England
75.0 18 to 24 72.9 25 to 34 72.7 35 to 44 75.7 45 to 54 76.2 55 to 64 77.3 65 and abo ve 80.2
UKCSI score by age group
A 75.0 B 76.4 C1 76.7 C2 77.4 D 78.6 E 79.3
UKCSI score by socio-economic group
why customer service
matters
Customer service is crucially important to the performance of individual organisations in both UK and
global markets, the attractiveness of the UK as a place to visit and do business and the overall health and
sustainability of the economy.
•
More than
70
% of the working population deal
directly with customers in their job roles
12 •The UK service sector accounts for over three
quarters of GDP
13•
In manufacturing industries, service is
increasingly important as a differentiator in
domestic and global markets
Amid a volatile and changing customer environment, successive UKCSI surveys have revealed a consistent
relationship between high levels of customer service and key measures of business performance and
brand value, including sales growth, loyalty, recommendation and trust.
Customer service and business performance
12.Finding based on unpublished research carried out by the Institute of Customer Service in 2013
13.See the World Bank data on service sector contribution to GDP at data.worldbank.org/indicator/NV.SRV.TETC.ZS
of highly satisfied customers are very likely to remain as customers
95%
of dissatisfied customers are very likely to remain OnlyPerformance Indicator Food retailers with higher than average UKCSI Food retailers with lower than average UKCSI
Pattern of results for all UKCSI analysis since July 2012
Average annual sales growth
(12 weeks to 12 Oct 2014) +8.2% -1.9%
Food retailers with above average UKCSI scores have outperformed their below average competitors by a margin of at least 3% on all six occasions that this analysis has been run since July 2012
Annual market share change
(12 weeks to 12 Oct 2014) +0.2% -0.5%
Food retailers with above average UKCSI scores have grown their combined market share, while the below average competitors have seen a fall in their combined market share; this pattern has been observed on all six occasions that this analysis has been run since July 2012
Customer satisfaction and sales growth: the Retail Food sector
72 74 76 78 80 82 84 -10% -5% 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% UKCSI scores Waitrose Aldi Iceland Asda Sainsbury’s Lidl Morrisons Tesco The Co-operative (Food)
Annual sales growth for the
12 weeks to 12 / 10 / 14 Source: Kantar W orldpanel
Customer satisfaction and sales growth: Retail Food
Food Retail is one of the most challenging and highly contested sectors of the economy, where changes
in customer needs and preferences quickly affect business performance. Analysis of UKCSI scores and
Kantar World Panel sales data
14demonstrates the links between customer satisfaction, sales growth and
market share. Importantly, these links are consistent over time, having been observed on each of the six
occasions that the analysis has been carried out since July
2012.
Customer satisfaction and market share growth: the Retail Food sector
72 74 76 78 80 82 84 -1.5% -1.0% -0.5% 0.0% 0.5% 1.0% 1.5% UKCSI scores Waitrose Aldi Iceland Asda Sainsbury’s Lidl Morrisons Tesco The Co-operative (Food)Annual market share change, 12/10/14
Source: Kantar W
orldpanel
Customer satisfaction and market share growth: the Retail Food sector
-0.5%
+0.2%
-0.6% -0.4% -0.2% 0.0% 0.2% 0.4%
Food retailers with above Sector average UKCSI Food retailers with below Sector average UKCSI
Customer satisfaction and sales growth: the Retail Food sector
-1.9%
+8.2%
-4.0% -2.0% 0.0% 2.0% 4.0% 6.0% 8.0% 10.0%
Food retailers with above Sector average UKCSI Food retailers with below Sector average UKCSI
In a volatile and demanding customer environment, organisations are having to work harder to engage
their customers. The evidence from UKCSI demonstrates that focusing on customer service is a tangible
way of building trusted and sustainable relationships.
Customer satisfaction drives retention,
recommendation and trust
Customer measure High satisfaction
(UKCSI of 9-10 out of 10) Low satisfaction (UKCSI of 1-4 out of 10) Gap between high and low satisfaction
Loyalty
% of customers who are highly loyal (scoring 9-10 on the measure of intention to remain a customer)
95% 5% 89%
Recommendation
% of customers who have recommended an organisation 56% 6% 50% Trust
% of customers who give a trust rating of 9 or 10 (out of 10) 83% 1% 82%
Overall satisfaction score per customer (out of 10)
1 – 1.9 2 – 2.9 3 – 3.9 4 – 4.9 5 – 5.9 6 – 6.9 7 – 7.9 8 – 8.9 9 – 10.0
% of customers who are highly loyal (i.e. scoring 9 - 10 for intention to remain a customer)
3% 6% 6% 6% 8% 13% 29% 66% 95%
% of customers who have
recommended the organisation 2% 5% 6% 12% 17% 21% 28% 40% 56%
% of customers who give the organisation a high trust rating (i.e. scoring 9 - 10 for trust)
0% 1% 0% 1% 2% 4% 10% 38% 83%
Customers’ satisfaction rating (1 – 10 scale) as measured in UKCSI 100% 20% 40% 60% 80% 0% 1 - 1.9 2 - 2.9 3 - 3.9 4 - 4.9 5 - 5.9 6 - 6.9 7 - 7.9 8 - 8.9 9 - 10.0
% of customers who give the organisation a high trust rating (i.e. scoring 9 – 10 for trust) % of customers who have recommended the organisation % of customers who are highly loyal (i.e. scoring 9 – 10 for intention to remain a customer)
customer satisfaction and
employee engagement
Where employees are perceived by customers to be engaged, knowledgeable, friendly and helpful, there
is a higher incidence of not only more satisfied customers but also increased loyalty and repurchase
15. This
underlines the growing importance of employee engagement to organisations as a differentiator and driver
of customer satisfaction.
The employee engagement measures tracked by the Institute of Customer Service are based on customers’
responses when asked to rate the staff they have dealt with (either in person or on the phone) against key
attributes on a scale of
1
–10
. These attributes include:
15. See the report Are you being engaged? Employee engagement and its influence on customer satisfaction and buying behaviour, as published by the Institute of Customer Service
Sector satisfaction scores vs employee engagement scores
70 72 74 76 78 80 82 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 7.7 7.8 7.9 8.0
Sector UKCSI scores
Automotive Banks & Building Societies
Services Insurance Tourism Retail (Non-food) Retail (Food) Leisure
Public Services (Local)
Transport
Telecommunications & Media Public Services (National) Utilities
Average employee engagement score on 5 key attributes
•
Knowledgeable
•Friendly
•
Helpful
•
Interested in meeting my needs
UKCSI score for the sector Average employee engagement score based on 5 key attributes
Ratings for 5 key indications of employee engagement Knowledgeable Friendly Helpful Interested
in meeting my needs
Seemed proud to work for the organisation Retail (Non-food) 81.4 7.58 7.55 7.87 7.86 7.56 7.05 Retail (Food) 79.6 7.62 7.64 7.92 7.93 7.59 7.00 Tourism 79.4 7.70 7.70 7.90 7.90 7.69 7.31 Automotive 78.6 7.91 7.97 8.15 8.08 7.85 7.49 Banks & Building Societies 78.4 7.84 7.93 8.14 8.12 7.78 7.21 Leisure 78.3 7.54 7.59 7.88 7.82 7.52 6.89 Insurance 77.1 7.69 7.77 7.97 7.95 7.64 7.11 Services 77.0 7.72 7.76 7.94 7.92 7.71 7.27 Transport 72.3 7.31 7.48 7.55 7.54 7.21 6.75 Public Services (Local) 72.1 7.47 7.67 7.71 7.70 7.39 6.91 Telecommunications & Media 71.6 7.30 7.34 7.59 7.50 7.24 6.83 Public Services (National) 71.3 7.26 7.50 7.50 7.45 7.14 6.71 Utilities 70.9 7.24 7.27 7.48 7.44 7.24 6.75
•
Only two metrics
–“The outcome of the
complaint” and “On time delivery”
–are judged
by customers to have improved since January
2013
, by
0.2
points out of
10
and
0.03
points
respectively
•
The remaining
26
metrics have seen a fall in
rating since January
2013
, with 11 dropping by
more than
0.25
out of
10
.
trends in the UKCSI
customer satisfaction
measures
The UKCSI survey covers
28
metrics encompassing different aspects of the customer experience. The
detailed data on these metrics for sectors and all organisations covered in UKCSI can be found in the
individual UKCSI Sector Reports
16.
Looking broadly across all organisations and sectors, customers are rating performance lower on almost
all of the 28 metrics included in the survey, compared to two years ago:
The
11
aspects of the customer experience that customers
say have deteriorated the most in two years
4.0
Jan-13 Jul-13 Jan-14 Jul-14 Jan-15 4.5 5.0 5.5 6.0 6.5 7.0 7.5 8.0 8.5
Availability of support (Website)
Staff doing what they say they will do (Complaints) Ease of getting through over the phone
Product/service range Speed of service in person Helpfulness of staff Competence of staff
Reputation of the organisation
Handling of the complaint Speed of resolving your complaint Speed of response (Writing)
Average customer score in
UK
CSI
Decreases in customer experience metrics over the past 2 years: three key themes
Key theme Relevant metrics Implications
Speed and responsiveness • Speed of service in person
• Speed of resolving your complaint
• Speed of response (writing)
• Availability of support (website)
• Ease of getting through over the phone
• Expectations have evolved rapidly; customers expect faster service and more convenience whether queuing to buy in-store, making an enquiry or attempting to resolve a problem
• Organisations need to ensure that they are easy and quick to do business with
• In many cases this means simplifying service processes to remove avoidable complication and delay
Complaints processes • Handling of the complaint
• Speed of resolving your complaint
• Staff doing what they say they will do (complaints)
• Despite slight improvements in the last two surveys, scores for these three complaints metrics remain below January 2013 levels and significantly lower on average than other customer experience metrics
• Not all complaints can be resolved to the customer’s satisfaction but unsatisfactory complaints procedures drive overall customer dissatisfaction and negative word of mouth
• Many organisations need to reassess their complaints processes to prevent complaints from occurring and resolve them more effectively
Staff behaviour and attitude • Staff doing what they say they will do (complaints)
• Helpfulness of staff
• Competence of staff
• Employees’ behaviour and attitude has a significant impact on customer satisfaction and buying behaviour, particularly via the in-person and phone channels
• Proactive employee engagement strategies developing key competences such as emotional intelligence and coaching are key to empowering employees to deal with challenging customer situations
the customer service
performance of
organisations
The top-scoring organisations in UKCSI
John Lewis retains the no.
1
ranking in UKCSI that it regained from Amazon in July
2014
. Both organisations
are part of a select group of organisations that consistently appear towards the top of the rankings
because they are delivering a consistently high level of customer service.
In total just seven organisations have scored over
83
in UKCSI over the past two years (i.e. in all UKCSI
surveys since January
2013
), indicating that they are sustaining a particularly high level of customer
satisfaction. These seven, all of which operate in the retail or banking sectors, are highlighted below. A
total of
205
named organisations are included in the UKCSI results for January
2015
.
January 2015 rank Organisation January 2015 score January 2014 score January 2014 rank Change in score January 2014 - January 2015 1 John Lewis 87.2 88.1 2 -0.9 2= Amazon 86.7 88.6 1 -1.9 2= First Direct 86.7 86.6 4 +0.1 4 Ocado 85.4 no data
5 Marks & Spencer (Food) 83.9 85.8 7 -1.9
6 Nationwide 83.8 83.0 27 +0.8 7= LV= 83.5 82.8 33 +0.7 7= Waitrose 83.5 86.9 3 -3.4 9 Argos 83.3 83.3 19 0 10 Aldi 83.0 85.5 8 -2.5 11= Center Parcs 82.9 83.0 27 -0.1 11= Skoda 82.9 83.6 14 -0.7 13 Thomson Airways 82.8 80.1 65 +2.7 14= Greggs 82.5 84.2 10 -1.7 14= Tesco Mobile 82.5 82.0 43 +0.5 16 Next 82.4 83.5 15 -1.1 17 Iceland 82.3 83.5 15 -1.2
January 2015 rank Organisation January 2015 score January 2014 score January 2014 rank Change in score January 2014 - January 2015 18 Jet2 82.0 no data 19= Matalan 81.9 78.0 96 +3.9 19= Specsavers 81.9 no data
21= Marks & Spencer (Non-food) 81.8 83.2 21 -1.4
21= Superdrug 81.8 83.2 21 -1.4 23= BMW/Mini 81.4 81.9 45 -0.5 23= booking.com 81.4 no data 25 Premier Inn 81.3 83.2 21 -1.9 26 Audi 81.1 81.6 48 -0.5 27 Boots 80.8 84.0 12 -3.2 27 Hyundai 80.8 82.7 35 -1.9 29 Kia 80.6 83.3 19 -2.7 30 Tesco Bank 80.5 83.0 27 -2.5 31= Expedia 80.4 78.0 96 +2.4 31= Mercedes Benz 80.4 83.4 18 -3.0 31= Toby Carvery 80.4 84.0 12 -3.6 34= Asda 80.3 80.6 60 -0.3 34= LoveFilm 80.3 78.4 91 +1.9 34= Virgin Atlantic 80.3 82.4 36 -2.1 34= Virgin Holidays 80.3 81.3 53 -1.0 38= Autoglass 80.2 82.8 33 -2.6 38= Sainsbury’s 80.2 81.7 47 -1.5
38= The Co-operative Bank 80.2 86.4 5 -6.2
41 Mazda 80.1 77.9 100 +2.2 42= Debenhams 80.0 80.9 57 -0.9 42= Enterprise Rent-A-Car 80.0 80.5 61 -0.5 42= Land Rover 80.0 81.5 49 -1.5 42= Lidl 80.0 78.7 87 +1.3 42= Wilkinson 80.0 82.1 39 -2.1 47 Saga Insurance 79.9 83.5 15 -3.6 48 Pizza Express 79.8 80.8 58 -1.0 49= Marriott 79.7 84.1 11 -4.4 49= Toyota 79.7 81.5 49 -1.8
The 7 organisations consistently scoring over 83 in UKCSI since January 2013
Organisation Sector
Aldi Retail (Food)
Amazon Retail (Non-food)
First Direct17 Banks & Building Societies
John Lewis Retail (Non-food)
Marks & Spencer (Food) Retail (Food)
Nationwide Banks & Building Societies
Waitrose Retail (Food)
17. First Direct has scored over 83 in all surveys since July 2013. It did not appear in the January 2013 UKCSI
10 most improved organisations - one year January 2015 UKCSI score January 2014 UKCSI score Change Sector
Southern Water 71.4 64.5 +6.9 Utilities
Yorkshire Water 77.3 71.3 +6.0 Utilities
United Utilities 76.1 70.6 +5.5 Utilities
Endsleigh 74.1 68.7 +5.4 Insurance
Sports Direct 78.5 74.2 +4.3 Retail (Non-food)
Matalan 81.9 78.0 +3.9 Retail (Non-food)
Santander 79.2 75.4 +3.8 Banks & Building Societies
British Gas 71.0 67.4 +3.6 Utilities
EDF Energy 72.5 68.9 +3.6 Utilities
Jobcentre Plus 55.1 52.0 +3.1 Public Services (National)
The most improved organisations in UKCSI
Out of the
196
named organisations that received a UKCSI score in January
2014
and January
2015
:
•33
improved their UKCSI score by more than one point during this period
•
113
have registered a fall of more than one point
The most improved organisations over the past year represent a range of sectors. Particularly noticeable,
however, is the performance of the three water companies – Southern Water, Yorkshire Water and United
Utilities – which top the most improved list. This underlines the opportunity for utilities companies to
improve service, not only to meet regulatory requirements but also to enhance their business performance.
Short term improvements in customer satisfaction are an encouraging indicator of future performance, but
realising the business benefits of better customer service requires a sustained and consistent focus. We
therefore highlight below the ten organisations that have registered the largest rise in UKCSI score over
the past five years (i.e. since January
2010
).
10 most improved organisations - five years January 2015 UKCSI score January 2010 UKCSI score Change Sector
Northern Ireland Electricity 75.6 65.1 +10.5 Utilities
Santander 79.2 71.1 +8.1 Banking
Nationwide 83.8 75.9 +7.9 Banking
Royal Mail/Parcelforce 72.6 65.7 +6.9 Services
3 74.3 67.9 +6.4 Telecommunications
Halifax 79.2 72.9 +6.3 Banking
National Express 76.5 70.4 +6.1 Transport
Aldi 83.0 77.0 +6.0 Retail (Food)
Fiat 78.9 73.1 +5.8 Automotive
Thames Water 68.0 62.3 +5.7 Utilities
Northern Ireland Electricity Service (NIES) Santander Nationwide Royal Mail/Parcelforce 3 Halifax National Express Aldi Fiat Thames Water 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90
Service component Definition Top 5 named organisations
Professionalism
Staff helpfulness, competence and friendliness, and overall ability to make the customer feel valued
1. John Lewis 4. Waitrose
2. First Direct 5. Marks & Spencer (Food)
3. Ocado Quality & efficiency
Ability to deliver a reliable, high-quality product or service at a reasonable price
1. First Direct 4. Aldi
2. John Lewis 5. Marks & Spencer (Food)
3. Amazon Ease of doing business
Providing accessible information/ advice and making the overall experience easy for customers
1. Amazon 4. First Direct
2. John Lewis 5. Marks & Spencer (Food)
3. Ocado Problem solving Handling and resolution of enquiries
and complaints
1. First Direct 4. Amazon
2. Ocado 5. Center Parcs
3. John Lewis Timeliness Speed of service/response and on-time delivery
1. Ocado 4. John Lewis
2. Amazon 5. LoveFilm
3. First Direct
Highest scoring organisations
by area of the customer experience
High scoring organisations in UKCSI typically deliver strong scores across the range of service metrics
covered in the survey, highlighting the importance of a sustained focus across the whole customer
experience.
what should
organisations do?
In an unpredictable and challenging customer environment, organisations need to rethink how they deliver
and measure customer service and respond with agility to changing customer needs and preferences.
We recommend
11
areas of focus to succeed in the new environment for customer service.
1) A strategic leadership commitment to customer service
• Setting a clear vision of the organisation’s customer service aspirations
• Customer service is recognised and communicated across the organisation as a central organisational objective
• There is board-level accountability for customer service
• Individuals’ job descriptions, at all levels, include defined customer service objectives
• Customer service standards are applied across the organisation, and with partner or supplier organisations
2) Measure across the whole customer experience
Many organisations choose an overarching measure such as Net Promoter Score or overall customer satisfaction, which has the advantage of being clearly understood and recognised across the organisation.
However, organisations need to measure across the whole customer experience. This includes hygiene factors, such as service availability and an organisation keeping its commitments; dealing with problems and complaints; customer effort or ease of doing business; quality and value for money; but also employee engagement; customers’ emotional engagement; brand and reputation; and future customer behaviours such as propensity to recommend or repurchase.
3) Consistency across channels
A characteristic of the highest performing organisations for customer service is consistency of experience across whichever combination of channels customers choose. Organisations need to understand customers’ use of and behaviour across a range of channels, measuring the impact of distinct channels as well as the overall multi-channel experience.
4) Invest in customer insight
Using multiple sources of data, including quantitative, qualitative, structured and unstructured online data to generate deep insight about customer segments and identify changes in customer preferences and behaviour.
5) Co-creation of services
Increasing numbers of customers – especially active online users – expect a deep
engagement with the organisations they want to do business with and expect to co-create products and services.
6) Proactive employee engagement strategies
Employee engagement is increasingly seen as a key point of differentiation and a significant influence on customer satisfaction and buying behaviour. Key elements of employee engagement include:
• Recruiting people who have a genuine desire to help others
• Supporting line managers to lead effectively, with training and development which maximises their ability to lead and inspire others
• Unleashing employees’ creativity to generate solutions to problems and do the right thing for customers, while acting within a consistent and commercially appropriate framework
• Visibility of senior management and an authentic dialogue with employees
• Organisations need to assess how engaged their employees are, the extent to which they understand and believe in the organisation’s strategy; and whether employees believe that people across the organisation are committed to a customer-focused strategy
7) Equip people with skills and competences
Key areas of focus include:
• Investing in emotional intelligence training for employees dealing with customers, especially in challenging situations
• Developing the coaching and people management skills of team leaders and line managers
• Encouraging employees to develop their capabilities through professional qualifications in customer service
8) Prevent problems occuring
High performing organisations act proactively to prevent their customers experiencing problems and where problems do occur they act quickly and decisively to resolve them.
9) Benchmark with organisations from other sectors
Customers increasingly benchmark the organisations they deal with against service leaders like Amazon and John Lewis. Organisations need to benchmark both within and outside their sector to seek best practice and innovation.
10) Collaborate within and beyond the organisation
Organisations need to acknowledge that customers expect great service from every possible touchpoint and at every stage of their experience. This can only be achieved when leaders align all departments and employees behind a strategy for service excellence. In many cases it also means collaborating closely with other organisations that influence the customer experience, be they partners responsible for delivering a product or service to the end user or other suppliers that impact the overall service the customer receives from the organisation.
11) Increase agility and innovation capabilities
In an environment where customers’ expectations are growing and evolving rapidly, organisations need to be able to act quickly to keep up with the pace of change. The most successful companies are those that can move particularly fast, staying ahead of customers’ expectations and creating competitive differentiation through service innovation. Achieving this requires a continuous questioning and understanding of market needs, as well as an agile corporate structure and culture that is able quickly to implement innovation and change.
Number of years UKCSI has run, beginning in January
2008
Number of sectors UKCSI covers,
11
in the private sector as well
as local and national public sector. Sector reports with a detailed
breakdown of scores by sector and organisation are published for
each sector.
Number of unique responses included in January
2015
UKCSI
from
10,144
customers. Customers are geographically and
demographically representative of the UK population and
participate in the survey through an online panel. Customers are
asked to provide a score for organisations based on their most
recent interaction.
Number of individual organisations and organisation types
which received a UKCSI rating.
205
named organisations which
have exceeded a minimum sample size are scored in the
13
sector reports. In addition, scores are given for
17
generic
providers including “your local Council”, “your local restaurant”
etc.
Number of times per year UKCSI is published, normally January
and July. To view the latest UKCSI results, please visit
www.instituteofcustomerservice.com/ukcsi
7
13
39,000
222
2
organisations included
in UKCSI January
2015
Automotive Audi BMW/Mini Citroen Fiat Ford Honda Hyundai Jaguar Kia Land Rover Mazda Mercedes Benz Nissan Peugeot Renault Skoda Suzuki Toyota Vauxhall Volvo VWBanks & Building Societies
Bank of Scotland Barclays First Direct Halifax HSBC Lloyds Nationwide NatWest RBS Santander Tesco
The Co-operative Bank TSB Insurance AA Admiral Aviva AXA Churchill
The Co-operative Insurance Direct Line
Endsleigh Esure Halifax Hastings
Legal & General Lloyds LV= M&S More Th>n Nationwide Prudential SAGA Sainsbury’s Sheila’s Wheels Tesco Virgin Money Zurich Leisure Burger King Caffe Nero Cineworld Costa Coffee Domino’s Pizza Greggs Harvester JD Wetherspoon KFC LOVEfilm McDonalds Odeon Pizza Express Pizza Hut Pret A Manger Starbucks Subway Toby Carvery Vue Cinema
Your local fish & chip shop Your local restaurant
Public Services (Local)
GP surgery/health centre Library
Your housing Association Your local Ambulance Service Your local council
Your local Fire Service Your local Police Service
Public Services (National)
DVLA HM Passport Office HMRC (Inland Revenue) Jobcentre Plus NHS/hospital service Post office Retail (Food) Aldi Asda Iceland Lidl
Marks & Spencer (food) Morrisons
Ocado Sainsbury’s Tesco
The Co-operative (food) Waitrose Retail (Non-food) Amazon Argos B&Q Boots Currys/PC World Debenhams eBay Homebase Ikea John Lewis Marks & Spencer Matalan New Look Next Poundland Primark Specsavers Sports Direct Superdrug TK Maxx WH Smith Wilkinson Services AA Autoglass Avis City Link DHL Enterprise Rent-A-Car Green Flag Hermes Hertz Homeserve RAC Royal Mail/Parcelforce Timpson TNT Yodel
Your local builder Your local dry cleaner Your local electrician Your local estate agent Your local hairdresser Your local painter & decorator Your local plumber Your local solicitor
Telecommunications & Media
3 BT EE (Everything Everywhere) Giffgaff O2 Sky Talk Talk Tesco mobile T-Mobile Virgin Media Vodafone Tourism booking.com Butlins Center Parcs Expedia Haven Holidays Hilton Holiday Inn Lastminute.com Marriott P&O Cruises Pontins Premier Inn Thomas Cook Thomson Travelodge Virgin Holidays Transport
Arriva - Bus group Arriva Trains Wales
British Airways CrossCountry East Coast East Midlands Trains easyJet
Eurotunnel First Capital Connect First Great Western First Group - bus companies First Scotrail Flybe Greater Anglia Jet2 London Midland London Underground Monarch Airlines National Express Northern Rail P&O Ferries Ryanair South West Trains Southeastern Trains Southern Railway Stagecoach The Trainline.com Thomson Virgin Atlantic Virgin Trains Utilities Anglian Water British Gas
Dwr Cymru (Welsh Water) E.ON (energy) EDF Energy first utility
Northern Ireland Electricity (NIE) Northumbrian Water
npower
Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE)
Scottish Power Severn Trent Water South West Water Southern Water Thames Water United Utilities (water) Yorkshire Water
about UKCSI
UKCSI (UK Customer Satisfaction Index) is the
Institute of Customer Service’s national measure
of customer satisfaction. It provides insights into
the state and direction of customer satisfaction
at a national level, across
13
key sectors and for
individual organisations.
UKCSI was launched by the Institute of Customer
Service in
2008
. It provides a unique way of
measuring the current customer satisfaction of UK
customers, as well as trends over time.
Methodology
To create UKCSI, the Institute of Customer Service
runs a large online survey of consumers twice a
year:
•
The January
2015
UKCSI results included
in this report are based on
39,000
survey
responses. Each response is a completed
online questionnaire relating to the customer
experience with a specific organisation
•
These responses are provided by
10,144
individual customers. The respondents are
representative of the UK adult population,
according to region, age and gender.
UKCSI survey focuses on customers’ actual
experiences of organisations. Respondents
are asked to rate their experience of individual
organisations they have dealt with in the previous
three months. To do this they score a series of
metrics on a scale from
1
to
10
. These metrics
relate to professionalism, quality and efficiency,
ease of doing business, timeliness, problem
solving and complaint handling. The metrics reflect
the priorities that consumers rate as the most
important elements of the customer experience,
according to Institute of Customer Service
research.
The UKCSI score for each organisation is the
average of all of its customers’ satisfaction scores.
Overall scores for each sector – and for the UK as a
whole – are mean averages of all responses.
Each published set of UKCSI results incorporates
the data from the previous two surveys, which
creates a rolling measure of the state of
satisfaction. In the January
2015
results, therefore,
the responses included are those from the UKCSI
surveys completed for January
2015
and July
2014
.
also available
UKCSI sector reports
Sector reports are available for all
13
sectors
covered in UKCSI at
www.instituteofcustomerservice.com/ukcsi
Use the sector reports to:
•
Benchmark your organisation against others in
the sector, using the detailed data on customer
satisfaction, complaints and each of the
customer priorities
•
Identify the organisations rated highest
for customer satisfaction in the sector and
understand their service strengths, as viewed by
their customers
•
Compare the sector to others in the UK economy
•Identify which channels customers in this sector
use and how satisfaction varies by sector
Business Benchmarking
UKCSI
Members of the Institute of Customer Service are
able to benchmark themselves against the results
of the UKCSI survey, using the Institute’s Business
Benchmarking service. This provides detailed
insights into an organisation’s service performance
and comparisons against the highest scoring
organisations in their sector.
Members of the Institute also have the option
to benchmark themselves against
business-to-business sector averages, where this is relevant to
their business model and target market.
ServiceMark
ServiceMark is a national standard which
demonstrates an organisation’s commitment to
customer service.
ServiceMark provides an independent validation
of an organisation’s achievement in customer
service, identifies opportunities for improvement
and learning and helps motivate and engage your
employees.
ServiceMark consists of three elements:
Find out more at:
www.instituteofcustomerservice.com/servicemark
Business Benchmarking UKCSI
Assesses how your customers rate your organisation against more than 25 priority measures of satisfaction
ServCheck
A unique assessment tool which provides insights into your employees’ engagement with your customer service strategy
Assessment
Independent assessment including a report with recommendations for action planning
other Institute
research
Beyond Measurement
Customer service and business performance.
The research aims to help CEOs, senior executives
and customer service leaders measure customer
service in order to deliver sustained improvement
in business performance. Organisations can
use the research to assess their current service
measurement and insight activities and identify
any gaps.
The power of service
How Utilities can improve customer focus and
business performance.
Shows how Utilities can address the challenges
and opportunities of a changing market by placing
a renewed focus on the customer. Includes
frameworks and recommendations for improving
customer satisfaction and enhancing trust and
reputation.
Customers and citizens
Further building the case for customer service in
the public sector.
This research examines the key challenges in
delivering excellent customer service in the
public sector. It provides organisations, including
government, with recommendations for developing
customer focus and delivering better outcomes for
citizens.
Structures for success
How models of business ownership influence
customer service.
Examines whether some business models are
better at delivering customer service than others.
Highlights ways in which organisations can learn
from other business model types in order to
improve service, be they mutuals, PLCs, private
companies, partnerships or franchises.
Are you being engaged?
2014
Employee engagement and its influence on
customer satisfaction and buying behaviour.
This research demonstrates the importance of
employee engagement as a driver of positive
customer experiences and improved business
performance. It updates research the Institute
published in
2012
on this topic.
Visit:
www.instituteofcustomerservice.com/research
for more information and to access Institute
research.
The Institute of
Customer Service
The Institute of Customer Service is the UK’s
independent, professional body for customer
service, with over
450
organisational members
and over
5,000
individual members. Our purpose
is to enable organisations to achieve tangible
business benefits through excellent customer
service aligned to their business goals; helping
individuals to maximise their career potential
and employability by developing their customer
service skills.
We provide a framework for our members to
share and learn from each others’ service delivery
experiences and offer wide-ranging support for
continuous customer service improvement. As the
professional body we are independent – setting
standards so that our customers can improve
their customers’ experiences and their business
performance.
Key activities undertaken by the Institute include:
•
Research and reports on the latest customer
service trends and thinking
•
Publication of the UK Customer Satisfaction
Index (UKCSI) twice a year
•
Benchmarking and diagnostic tools to identify
areas for improvement by surveying customers
and employees
•
Training and accreditation programmes for
customer service professionals
•
Professional qualifications for individuals at all
stages of their career
•
Public policy development.
For further information please visit
www.instituteofcustomerservice.com
T: 0207 260 2620
instituteofcustomerservice.com
•
Benchmark the customer satisfaction
performance of leading organisations on
a range of key metrics
•
Identify the highest rated and most improved
organisations for customer satisfaction
•Compare the customer satisfaction
performance of
13
sectors
•
See the link between customer service and
business priorities including loyalty and trust
•Identify which channels customers use and
how satisfaction varies by channel
Use the UKCSI sector reports to:
based on the experiences of customers in your sector
UKCSI sector reports are available at www.instituteofcustomerservice.com/ukcsi
for the following sectors:
•
Automotive
•
Banks & Building Societies
•
Insurance
•
Leisure
•
Public Services (Local)
•
Public Services (National)
•
Retail (Food)
•
Retail (Non-food)
•
Services
•
Telecommunications & Media
•
Tourism
•
Transport
