Drop in customer satisfaction blamed on rising cost of living

A survey of about 1,000 islanders scored customer satisfaction at 60.4 out of 100, a decline of 2.3 points in the past year and 9.8 points lower than scores recorded four years ago. The findings of the latest Brand Reputation Index survey were released by Island Global Research this morning.

Charlotte Dunsterville, executive director of business consultancy firm UN1TY, who has more than 25 years’ experience of leadership in customer experience, suspected that cost of living pressures were a major factor behind declines in customer service satisfaction.

‘Sometimes organisations’ price rises are jumping more than inflation, which impacts household budgets, and this may lead to dissatisfaction,’ she said.

‘However, I’m not sure the level has dropped a great deal, and many companies certainly show great concern with the customer service they provide.’

Ms Dunsterville felt that staff shortages may also have played a role, albeit a less significant one.

‘There is pressure to find talent. If staff levels have dropped and organisations are having to manage with fewer staff, then that could also have an effect on the service being provided,’ she said.

She added that organisations she worked with took their levels of customer service seriously and expressed a continuous desire to improve.

The survey, which was undertaken in April, asked 955 islanders to respond to questions across seven categories which have an impact on brand reputation, including brand impression, perceived values and likelihood to recommend.

All sectors in the survey had lower customer satisfaction on average than a year ago. Finance scored particularly poorly, declining by almost four points.

Fifty local organisations across a range of different industry sectors were included in the index, with each respondent asked about a random selection of 25 organisations from the full list.

Island Global Research manager Lilyanne Guille said that reasons for declining customer service satisfaction were likely to vary between sectors and organisations, but that the challenging economic environment was a common problem facing businesses and customers.

She added that organisations which had built strong relationships with their customers were likely to be more resilient at times of economic difficulty.

‘We would like to encourage organisations to think about how they can slow the trend by putting customer experience at the forefront of the services they provide,’ she said. ‘Learning from those which perform highly and listening to customer feedback are both important for identifying what changes will make positive differences to customers.’

Marks & Spencer topped the index overall, followed by Waitrose, Guernsey Post, Guernsey Dairy and Specsavers.

The highest-rated organisations for customer satisfaction were Skipton International, RH Gaudion and Cherry Godfrey, with scores of more than 80 out of 100.

‘Giving great personal service is one of Skipton’s unique selling points and part of the company’s ethos,’ said Skipton’s chief operating officer, Pete Turner.

‘It’s testament to the hard work and talents of my colleagues that this independent feedback from Guernsey’s population has resoundingly recommended Skipton for its customer service.’