Pret A Manger, Greggs and Toby Carvery have been named among the top performing brands and organisations in the UK in terms of customer satisfaction, a new survey shows.
The UK Customer Satisfaction Index also found that the overall level of customer satisfaction has fallen in general in the UK, and in the leisure sector, which maintained its position as the third best performing industry for satisfaction behind non-food and food retailers.
The Index asked 12,603 UK consumers to rate their experience of individual organisations from one to 10 based on professionalism, quality and efficiency, ease of doing business, timeliness, problem solving and complaint handling
Pret A Manger was the top rated brand in the eating and drinking out sector, coming in fifth at 86.4 out of 100.
Pret was a new entry, but for some other high-ranking brands in the sector, there was a slight dip in their rating compared to the same survey one year ago.
Greggs was 10th overall at 84.2, down from 85.5 in January 2013, although it moved up three places on last year’s ranking,
Toby Carvery was 12th, up from 25th last year, with 84 points (2013: 84.1). Subway moved from 32nd to 23rd position with 83.2 points (83.3);
Meanwhile, Costa moved from 63rd to joint 27th in the ranking after seeing its score climb from 80.8 to 83. Caffe Nero was a new entry at joint 49th with a score of 81.5.
Overall the leisure sector’s score was 80.9, a slight dip on 2013, when it was 81. The industry was behind non-food retail (83.1) and food retail (81).
Customer satisfaction fell in 12 of the 13 sectors measured - banking and building societies is the only sector where it increased. Across all sectors and businesses, the overall level of satisfaction is 77/1, down from 78.2 last year.
Jo Causon, chief executive of the Institute of Customer Service, said: “These results are a wake-up call to UK business. In an environment where customers are more aware than ever about the standard of service they should receive, organisations cannot afford to lessen their focus on customer service. This is important because it impacts not only the success individual organisations, but also the growth and competitiveness of the UK economy as a whole.
“As the economy begins to grow organisations need to recognise that the customer service experience they deliver is increasingly important in customers’ buying decisions. Those organisations that focus on differentiating through customer service are well placed to achieve sustainable performance. But to do this they need to view customer service as integral to building customer relationships across the value chain, not just as a series of transactions.”
She added: “UKCSI has consistently demonstrated the close link between customer service and market share, loyalty and sales growth. In the retail food sector the highest performing organisations for customer service have increased their market share, further strengthening the business case for customer service.”
