New Zealanders want faster response times

Survey finds New Zealanders want faster response times

Increasingly time poor New Zealanders are demanding faster response times from organisations they deal with, according to findings of the latest annual KiwiHost/JRA Customer Service Pulse.

Managing Director of KiwiHost New Zealand, Jared Brixton, said that as in the past 3 years, respondents have made their expectations very clear.

“Most New Zealanders still expect an organisation to listen to them and understand what their needs are and to show a willingness to help. But for the first time, respondents said they also expect organisations to respond in a timely manner.

“We have to ask if this is a sign that Kiwis are fed-up with being ‘put on hold’ by the telcos?”

The pulse found that the telecommunications industry and Government agencies rated the lowest across a range of industries. On the flipside, the banking industry and restaurants, bars and cafes scored more favourably.

"However, even for the industries that scored favourably, only 60% of respondents were ‘satisfied’ or ‘very satisfied’ with the level of service, indicating that there is still significant room for improvement amongst the higher performing industries."

When asked whether the level of customer service was improving in New Zealand, 41% of respondents felt there had been ‘no change’ whilst 30% of respondents felt it was getting worse.

“The results of our research suggest to businesses that if can get these three things right, they will have more satisfied customers than their competitors, namely: 1. Listen to me and understand what my needs are; 2. Show a willingness to help me and 3. Respond to me in a timely manner,” Mr Brixton said.

Managing director of JRA (leading workplace survey and analysis specialists), John Robertson, said that for the third year running the results of this research back up JRA’s long held belief that in order to delight customers and inspire customer loyalty, businesses need to ensure their employees are actively engaged in their work.

He said it was concerning that the findings indicate a general feeling of dissatisfaction with the level of customer service provided by many New Zealand organisations, given other findings of the KiwiHost/JRA Customer Service Pulse that indicate only a very small number of New Zealanders raise their complaints directly with an organisation.

"Only 6% of respondents always raise their concerns with an organisation whilst 13% never do. The majority of respondents indicated they ‘occasionally’ or ‘hardly ever’ raise their complaints."

Whilst many respondents are not telling the organisation about their concerns, they are telling their friends and family. Most respondents indicated that they will tell 4-6 other people about a bad customer service experience they have (compared to only telling 1-3 other people about a good customer service experience).

Not only are they telling their family and friends, but respondents indicated they will only give an organisation one or two chances before they start to look at taking their business elsewhere.

"These results provide a wake-up call for many New Zealand organisations and reinforce the need to have engaged, well-trained frontline staff that are supported by an organisation with customer focused strategies and processes,” Mr Robertson said.

ENDS

© Scoop Media