Customer satisfaction levels here have continued to drop despite efforts to boost service standards.
The latest customer satisfaction survey conducted by the Singapore
Management University's Institute of Service Excellence, showed that
five of six sectors covered in the survey so far have seen a decline in
satisfaction scores.
The retail sector suffered the biggest drop this year.
It saw an almost six-fold fall in customers' satisfaction level, compared to last year.
The tourism, hotel and accommodation services sector was the next worst-performing sector.
Satisfaction scores in the education, info-communication and food and beverage sectors also dipped.
The transport and logistics sector was the only one which remained unchanged.
SMU's Institute of Service Excellence says based on its findings since
2007, customers, at least within retail and F&B sectors, are now
placing more importance on service over product quality.
The Institute's director, Ms Caroline Lee tells us what companies should do to boost overall customer satisfaction :
"It is no longer enough to just train frontline staff in the hopes of
raising service levels, they have to take a more holistic approach.
They can look at how to deploy technology, how to change processes."
In response to the results, the Singapore Tourism Board says that the
bulk of Singapore-based SMEs were not represented in the survey.
It was responding on behalf of the Go- the Extra- Mile-For-Service or
GEMS Up movement, which aims to boost service standards here.
Close to 10,500 households and some 3,500 tourists took part in the survey.
--938Live