Improve customer service or lose out, customers warn
Published: 31 January, 2011
The retail sector is the second biggest culprit of bad customer service according to a survey by YouGov.
Twenty-one per cent of respondents said they had received the worst customer service from national retailers with only utility companies fairing worse at 22 per cent.
The main bugbear identified by consumers was staff talking to each other when they need assistance – an issue chosen by almost half of respondents. Other top irritants include over-zealous staff approaching customers to ask if they need help, staff not being available to help and staff not being able to answer questions.
And 47 per cent of people say they’ve boycotted a company after receiving bad service, whether it’s angry customers telling family and friends about their bad experiences (77 per cent), actively filing a complaint (47 per cent) or posting a negative review online (26 per cent), businesses that don’t take the issue seriously could be set to suffer this year unless the problems are addressed.
Duncan Baker from the Institute of Customer Service said: “Good customer service means attending to queries quickly and efficiently, adopting the correct tone and manner and sensing the customer’s needs immediately.
“Business leaders are increasingly savvy when it comes to customer service – but it is a crucial attribute that all retail businesses and organisations can benefit from, across the private or public sector. I recently read that the police are working with John Lewis to improve the way they interact with the public. I welcome initiatives such as this and hope it will be the first of many.”
