'Value is not what customers pay, it’s what they get, and the experience given to a customer is part of this. Organisations need to think carefully about how they can deliver tangible value to customers as part of their wider CX programme.' Photograph: David Parry/PA Wire
“We’ve seen an overall improvement, but talking to companies, there is still challenges getting traction for customer experience within large corporates,” she says. “They see the value, but I think where it becomes difficult is for them being able to measure the impact on their business performance where the customer experience is actually tied to hard business metrics, like retention.
They are more focused on implementing changes that work for their customers, rather than just driving change to make their organisation more efficient. In other words, they spend money on making things better for us rather than spending it to make things better for themselves. Technology retailer Power City, which recorded the second highest score for the positive impact of their staff, made it into the top 10 for the first time this year, claiming third position, while Smyths toystores and Specsavers opticians rounded out the top five.
She notes that “these things can be turned around. In 2021, the Passport Service fell from a Top 20 position to 87th. Just 18 months ago, RTÉ was reporting how the Passport Service found itself “at the centre of a perfect storm” post-Covid and post-Brexit. This year it improved its score by more than 16 per cent and was the biggest jumper on the table, moving from 86th to 18th slot.
For what it’s worth, Pricewatch still gets more complaints about Aer Lingus than Ryanair. Summers seems surprised by this, but suggests that this might be because Ryanair “manages expectations very well, so you know you’re only going to get a basic experience – but because you’ve only paid a certain amount then you know it’s fine and that’s where the value comes in.
Generally speaking, public sector organisations performed poorly, with the sector coming second last of 11 categories. The HSE finished in joint 138th alongside the NCT, and one place behind An Garda Síochána. Customers need to know when to expect their items and to be able to speak to someone who can solve problems quickly if they ariseSummers says the issues which people encountered trying to purchase tickets for concerts, notably Taylor Swift and Coldplay, included a website which crashed often, high ticket prices, a queuing process which is difficult to navigate, high service charges and very poor customer service.
The sector with the highest number of organisations seeing their scores decline was logistics and delivery. The category fell four places, the biggest drop of any sector, with delivery companies such as Fastway, Amazon, DHL and Just Eat all dropping their scores. The latter was the joint highest faller this year, tumbling 68 places from 60th to 128th.
“Value is not what customers pay, it’s what they get, and the experience given to a customer is part of this. Organisations need to think carefully about how they can deliver tangible value to customers as part of their wider CX programme.” The report also says the experience employees have with companies and how they are treated by management will continue to shape how customers are subsequently treated in 2024.