Banks are more dedicated than other service providers to giving their customers the best possible service, according to a survey by market researcher Colmar Brunton.
One-third of respondents to the Colmar Brunton Customer Experiences Survey said they had "a particularly good" experience when dealing with their bank over the past 12 months. ASB topped the survey, with six other banks - Kiwibank, Westpac, BNZ, the National Bank, ANZ and TSB - featuring in the top 10.
Banks contributed 37% of all "particularly good experiences" cited by survey respondents, up from 24% five years ago.
The survey was of a "nationally representative sample" of 1,020 New Zealanders aged 15 years and over and was done during July and August last year.
Colmar Brunton said respondents cited the following companies when asked to name one business they felt was the most dedicated to providing customers with the best possible service:
1. ASB
2. Air New Zealand
3. Kiwibank
4. Westpac
5. BNZ
6. National Bank
7. New World
8. ANZ
9. TSB
10. Vodafone
Dick Brunton, co-founder and chairman of Colmar Brunton, said ASB had been a leader in customer service and has been first to establish a virtual bank branch via Facebook, through which customers' can book an appointment with a virtual staff member online and have an internet-based conversation.
"There is also strong evidence that a customer-driven approach is better for a company’s bottom line than a purely profit driven one," said Brunton.
The world’s best brand builders had a "relentless commitment" to excellent customer experience.
“Organisations that authentically put the customer first build more brand value for their shareholders than those who put shareholders first,” Brunton said.
"Overall the personal customer experience in New Zealand has improved in the past five years. That’s mainly because of a significant reduction in negative customer experiences to 59% this year, from 72% in 2006 when the survey was last conducted."
Brunton said a bad customer experience could be dangerous to corporate reputations and earnings.
"Respondents are twice as likely to tell others about a bad experience than a good one. They also have more tools to do so with the proliferation of social media," Brunton added.
“The adoption of social media means that consumers are sharing their experiences, good and bad, through a forum which lives on well after the original incident has been forgotten."
Stories, plus detail respondents offer in the explanations of their negative experiences demonstrate "a real viral danger" as stories take on more meaning than the initial experience as they are passed on.
"Pulling out all the stops to remedy a situation is the biggest driver for great customer experiences," said Brunton.
In contrast to banks, Colmar Brunton said telecommunications companies had a long way to go with their customer service. One in five survey respondents reported a negative experience when dealing with their telco, with phone companies contributing one-third of all bad customer experiences. Op top of this, "particularly bad" telco experiences outnumber "particularly good" ones by four to one.
“Banks and airlines have done a great job of ‘onlining’ and automating the service experience in a way that feels both personal and customised,” said Brunton.
“But businesses should be wary of going down the automation track without considering how it feels to the consumer. Telcos are widely criticised for automating their phone systems in a way that is cold, impersonal and actually makes it harder for consumers to interact with them.”
He warned that how firms handled the transition to online and telephone customer service was increasingly a key factor in how consumers' perceived them.
15 Comments
This is a total waste of space on so many levels. Banks are the smiling assassins. The banks here have supported one of the biggest con jobs on New Zealanders. Rising house prices through the 2000's only suited one industry - the banks. While people all thought they were getting richer they all forgot that the next home they bought was going to cost more too=more debt. Banks are businesses and no matter how good you feel about positive customer experiences at the end of the day banks want to pay you the least amount of interest and charge you the most for borrowing (as well as all the extra fees). With the enormous profits being repatriated to Australia each year they damn well should be providing good customer service. They are insidious. They'll get you into debt to afford IVF to start a family (asb), get you into debt to put a roof over your head (mortgage), get you into debt to buy your groceries (credit cards), get you into debt to provide you a car loan (MV finance), charge you to mange your own money (default kiwisaver), charge you to look after your money (excessive fees).....and why, becuase on the whole the average NZ'er doesn't earn enough, is over taxed by local and central governement becasue the economy is shrinking and the only industries we seem to create are ones that endlessly provide research (Colmar Brunton), & econommists, and think tanks and special working parties. Where are the success stories - oh yeah forgot - there are so few becasue when SME's want to borrow thereare no banks wanting to lend-unless of course you can put in your house as security. It's all a big joke and the joke is on us.
Any SME management that thinks it is necessary to borrow needs to explain why....this is the problem Ged...if SMEs could only see the future in terms of not having a relationship with a bank other than as a supplier of facilities to accumulate savings until savings can be invested in growth...only then will there be real progess beyond a wasteful and stupid game of feeding the banks.
Thank you Colmar Brunton for this truly unbiased , piece of butt wiping drool. I marvel that your people have time to indulge in fantasy, albeit in the name of pandering to those who supply you a very steady stream of work.........and all made the top ten.....wow!!....if I had taken this to print I would be sooooo shit scared of being reflected upon as an ass kissing time and money waster..................but i guess the commission is here and now.
Interestingly enough I have participated in seven C+B (paid interview style polls)over the last four/maybe five years......all of them were on Banks.........The ANZ....twice
Sorry forgot to highlight DICK bruntons comment........" "There is also strong evidence that a customer-driven approach is better for a company’s bottom line than a purely profit driven one," said Brunton.
Have a think about that.........to what end...DICK........hmmmmmmmm....profit...?
oh crickey........ DICK.
Colman Brunton undertook a nationally representative survey of New Zealanders, it's actually scientifically conducted.
Then one reads the commments here and see that this blog must be such a nationally unrepresentative section of New Zealanders. You guys are in danger of taking yourselves too seriously. It seems if you want to get a representative fix on things, go to this blog and then take the exact opposite.
Quite right Muzza, surveys are only to be taken seriously if they point to the end of the world as we know it. Anything reflecting a more moderate and balanced viewpoint is mere spin and BS. Last week we had one self appointed expert dismissing a rise in the long running ANZ commodity price index as merely bank propaganda designed to prop up the rural property ponzi scheme. Bernard should have a motto for this site "interest.co.nz, where even the good news is bad"
"Negative experiences take on a real viral danger" Wonder why such a focus on things medical when referring to bank behaviour. We have been put in intensive care and we have cured ourslves, now we have a viral infection! I go back to a previous comment do a survey on random farmers and see what the results are. How about publishing the questions.
One third reported as having good experiences, what about the other 67% what were their comments?
onlining and automating services.....that feels both personalised and customised cotradiction in terms isn't it?
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