Jo Causon, chief executive of the,
Institute of Customer Service, works with some of the UK’s best-known brands.
“The institute is a professional body and a membership organisation,” she tells Central Lobby.
“We are independent and not for profit, and we have more than 400 members.
“We are pan-sector, we cover every industry and many of those organisations are major brands that you would recognise, such as Waitrose, Sainsbury’s, BMW, Prudential and our purpose is to help improve customer service in the UK.”
Customer service is not just for retailers and not just a side-issue.
“We set the standard for what customer service should be like.
“It is important because there is a direct correlation between overall customer satisfaction and the performance of organisations within the UK.
“For me it is about helping individuals in customer service to be better at their profession, which in turn helps organisations perform better, which helps UK Plc perform better.”
There are two out-dated views of the British – that they don’t complain and that our businesses, particularly retailers, give poor customer service.
Since 2008, the institute has published its bi-annual UK Customer Satisfaction Index (UKCSI).
It is based on the results of an online questionnaire that consists of around 26,000 responses.
Customers are asked to rate organisations across various sectors on each of the factors considered most important. They are also asked about any complaints they'd made and how the organisation handled them.
The latest one is due out on Monday. While Ms Causon says we will have to wait and see what it says, she is happy to bust some myths about British consumers and businesses.
“Nowadays as customers and consumers, we are more choosy. We have found there are fewer problems in the UK but our propensity to complain when we have a problem has increased.
“It is complex, and there are a number of people we call silent sufferers, there still is a proportion of people who think ‘I can’t be bothered to complain because nothing will change’.
“We are also far more aware, because of social media and the web, of our choices.
“We have less money in our pocket and so we are going to spend more discerningly and so customer service is therefore an important aspect.”
Ms Causon says that the UKCSI, which tracks across 13 industry sectors, “shows the top performing sectors are retail both food and non-food, followed by the services sector”.
“At mid-table is banking and finance and towards the bottom are utilities, telecommunication and the public sector.”
Why is all this so important?
“75% of GDP in the UK is generated from the service sector. Therefore the UK’s ability to deliver consistently excellent service doesn’t just influence the domestic consumer behaviour but our global effectiveness. What we have seen since 2008 is a steady increase in customer satisfaction in the UK.”
The internet and rise of social media is also transforming the ways that consumers and customers interact with organisations.
“It is not a particularly nice word, but this is about ‘omni-channel,’” Ms Causon explains.
“The organisations that are good at this join up all of their channels and give me a choice if I want to contact them by email, use social media or do it face to face or by text.
“It is about joining up your channel strategy and as a consumer choose, because during any given day I might use a multitude of channels to communicate.
“I would get very frustrated if I fill out my details in one particular medium and then have to do it again on another route.
“This is about understanding the customer journey or experience end to end.
“The big change in customer service is that it is a strategic issue and the balance of power is now with the customer or consumer.”
There are lessons not just for business but for government here, especially as the public sector is at the bottom of the UKCSI ratings.
Ms Causon says that government needs to recognise that complaints handling isn’t just about the process.
“When we look back at our research into complaints, the things we complain about are sometimes about processes and systems, but it is also about staff competence and attitude and .getting back to me’.
“It is not just about having a documented process, but about how well we have trained our people, how much empathy they have rather than the ‘computer says no’ response.
“When I look at why people complain, how they are handled makes a massive difference to how they feel about the whole experience.
“I want to talk to somebody that I think is empathetic and understands my issue or challenge, is accountable or will take the problem away and look at it.
“Even if it is not resolved in the way I wanted, if I am spoken to and engaged with in that process, then I am going to be more satisfied with that experience.”
She adds:
“There are really good examples in the public sector, and it comes back to training and developing our people. In this day and age, we all pay tax and we are all customers of public services.”
The next UK Customer Satisfaction Index will be published on Tuesday 16 July.