The Institute of Customer Service annual ranking has a new king of British Customer Service after John Lewis fell to its lowest point in seven years and outside of the top three, Amazon improved one place to take the crown with a score of 86.6. John Lewis score dropped from a chart-topping 87.2 to 84.9 this year, leaving it in sixth place on the semi-annual index from the Institute of Customer Service.
According to the Index, competence of staff was the most important indicator for customer satisfaction. Competence over the phone was also valued, as well as staff simply doing what they say they will do.
“Core ingredients of excellent customer service – employee competence, attitudes and behaviour – have become even more significant differentiators. Mass marketing or a ‘one size fits all’ customer experience is delivering diminishing returns and diluting valuable customer relationships. While the multi-channel environment demanded by customers has the potential to offer a faster more flexible service, it can also exacerbate problems if not done correctly.” said CEO of The Institute of Customer Service Jo Causon.
Argos would be a clear reflection of this, ecommerce capabilities following Black Friday let customers down. As well as website closures, shoppers had to deal with late packages, and a customer help line that literally advised them to call later in the week. In direct comparison Amazon became increasingly popular in 2015, introducing a number of new services designed to make deliveries quicker and easier for customers. Amazon ‘Prime Now’ launched in London and Birmingham before spreading to Newcastle, whilst its grocery delivery service ‘Amazon Pantry’ is set to grow rapidly in 2016. The site was also one of the most popular destinations during Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
The index showed the first significant boost in customer satisfaction since 2012, a rise of 0.8 points to 77 (out of 100) but was still some way off the 2013 peak of 78.2. Retail non-food remained the sector with the highest satisfaction score, but utilities improved most, gaining 1.9 points on last year, closely followed by insurance (1.6) and retail food (1.5). Helpfulness of staff, in person, rose from 21st to fourth in the rankings while friendliness of staff and ease of doing business also rose on the index of customer priorities.
The Institute of Customer Service asks more than 10,000 Britons to assess their experience of individual organisations they have dealt with in the previous three months, rating the companies on factors such as professionalism, quality and efficiency, ease of doing business, timeliness, problem solving and complaint handling.
The top 50 companies for customer service
1 Amazon.co.uk – 86.6
2 Utility Warehouse – 86.4
3 First Direct – 85.7
4 Specsavers – 85.4
5 Waitrose – 85.0
6 John Lewis – 84.9
7 New Look – 84.3
8 SAGA Insurance – 84.1
9 Nationwide – 83.7
10 M&S Food – 83.5
11 Aldi – 83.4
=12 Mini – 83.3
=12 Trailfinders – 83.3
=14 Iceland – 83.2
=14 Your local library – 83.2
=14 Virgin Atlantic – 83.2
=17 Ocado – 83.1
=17 Hyundai – 83.1
19 Wilkinson – 82.9
20 Superdrug – 82.8
21 Boots UK – 82.7
22 Greggs/Baker’s Oven – 82.6
23 LV= – 82.4
24 Next – 82.3
=25 RIAS – 82.2
=25 SAGA Holidays – 82.2
=27 GiffGaff – 82.1
=27 M&S – 82.1
29 Aviva – 82.0
30 Ebay – 81.9
31 Premier Inn – 81.8
31 RAC – 81.8
33 Ovo Energy – 81.7
=34 LOVEfilm – 81.6
=34 Jaguar – 81.6
=36 Center Parcs – 81.5
=36 TSB – 81.5
=38 ASDA – 81.4
=38 Sainsbury’s – 81.4
=38 AA – 81.4
=41 BMW – 81.3
=41 Yorkshire Bank – 81.3
=41 Expedia – 81.3
=41 Pret A Manger – 81.3
=45 Hilton – 81.2
=45 Haven Holidays – 81.2
=47 Tesco Mobile – 81.1
=47 Kia – 81.1
49 Your local ambulance service – 81.0
=50 Toyota – 80.9
=50 Cineworld – 80.9
