Whistl: We cannot ignore the hard fact that poor customer service impacts an organisation’s performance
Whistl has launched a guide to improve the impact customer satisfaction levels have on the performance of an organisation or business.
The guide was inspired by data from the most recent UK Customer Satisfaction Index report from the Institute of Customer Service showing that satisfaction levels are at their lowest point in nine years. Covering 13 sectors over 26 measures it found that complaint handling in the past year has experienced the biggest decrease in satisfaction.
On a positive note, the research shows that if an organisation can improve satisfaction by one point it can lead to stronger revenue growth, EBITDA and revenue per employee, compared to competitors in the same sector. In addition, companies that are rated highly for their customer service benefit from greater trust, customer satisfaction and customer retention.
The guide from Whistl also looks at the impact technology has on the customer experience as consumers adopt a multi-channel way of communicating with an organisation. Face to face customer interaction is falling – 8.6% over the past four years to 34.2%, overtaken by phone, email and webchat. And looking to the near future there is a huge question over the efficacy of AI when dealing satisfactorily with and resolving consumer’s issues.
Within the guide there is a checklist for organisations to benchmark their current performance and the key areas to focus on to improve customer satisfaction.
James Revell, Director of Whistl Contact Centre Solutions, said: “We cannot ignore the hard fact that poor customer service impacts an organisation’s performance. It is also easy to ignore the simple steps you can take to move the dial and supercharge your customer experience and ultimately the bottom line.
“This guide has been designed to enable people to stop and think about every aspect of their customer service operations and how it can meet the needs of the modern consumer. Then working with an experienced expert, they can put in place multi-channel customer solutions that will take the customer experience and their organisation to the next level.”
A copy of the guide is available here.
