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