Who cares about what other countries are
getting....look at the service and culture they have to offer
first! Duh!
Providing service to ungracious customers is the worst
experience for service industry!!!
What about rating the "worst customers
survey"???!!!
First nationwide index on customer satisfaction is a
start
By Alicia Wong, TODAY | Posted:
08 April 2008 0643 hrs
SINGAPORE: You've heard or experienced it all, the good
and the bad that service in Singapore has to offer. Now, here are
credible statistics to back the anecdotes — and the numbers paint a
picture of a somewhat satisfied customer.
Based on a new, comprehensive measure of customer contentment, the
city of the smiling Singa scored a "healthy" 68.7 out of 100 on the
national average satisfaction scale. Other developed countries
scored in the 70s.
A first in Singapore, the Customer Satisfaction Index of Singapore
(CSISG) — developed by the Institute of Service Excellence (Ises)
and the Singapore Workforce Development Agency (WDA) — includes the
views of both residents and tourists, on eight key economic
sectors.
Of the individual entities that stood out, the national carrier
took pride of place. Thanking its customers, a Singapore Airlines
spokesperson told TODAY it had invested "substantial resources in
training" its staff to keep customers happy and was "honoured to
have topped the survey".
Less satisfied, however, were those who ranked Singapore's two
healthcare clusters, the National Healthcare Group and SingHealth,
near the bottom of the overall list. For instance, in terms of
polyclinic service, they scored 60.5 and 64.7 respectively.
With the issue of long queues having repeatedly made the news,
consumers like band instructor Goh Koon Chuan, 36, were not
surprised polyclinics fared badly. "Their waiting times are long,"
he groused.
While the transportation and logistics sector was ranked third, one
of its sub-sectors — public buses — scored a low 64.3. SBS Transit
said: "We are of course disappointed that we did not do better and
this will definitely spur us to do better."
Most consumers were not surprised at the sector rankings,
especially with tourism coming in first. But market researcher
Eugene Fok, 25, did not expect telecommunications to take bottom
place, while housewife Ms Cynthia Sin, 47, felt the scoring for
public buses was harsh. "I depend on public transport, and I think
it is quite efficient," she said.
While Singapore's national average is healthy, there is some
catching up to do, said Ises director Caroline Lim. South Korea and
the United States, which use the same model, scored 72 and 75
respectively.
South Korea had scored 58.8 when it launched the index in 1998 but
has moved "steadily upward" since, said Ms Lim, adding that
Singapore can do likewise.
Interestingly, tourists gave higher scores than residents did. Most
tourists came from Indonesia, China and Australia, said Ms Lim, and
when they compare against their experiences at home, "they would
rate Singapore higher".
That Singaporeans could have higher expectations was also a
"possibility". Even so, only 6.3 per cent of respondents had
complained to a company at least once in the last three or six
months — compared with the US' 14 per cent.
This could be due to US consumers being more vocal, or there being
more well-established feedback channels and a faster
service-recovery culture in the US, said Ises, which comes under
the Singapore Management University (SMU). The key to customer
satisfaction, findings showed, depended on how well a company
handled the complaint.
The CSISG is an international gold standard based on the American
Customer Satisfaction Index, said Ises, which co-funded the
$1-million survey with the WDA. Data was collected through
face-to-face interviews with 10,229 households and 2,159 tourists
between May 1 and July 23 last year. The survey took into account
how customers' expectations and the quality of products or services
affected their satisfaction.
Acting Minister for Manpower Gan Kim Yong said good service skills
will become a critical asset and a competitive advantage for
Singapore. "The CSISG is not just a barometer of customer
satisfaction. It is a diagnostic tool that allows companies to
understand, compare, improve and monitor their customer service
over time," he said, challenging companies to score above 70 within
three years.
The results will be posted at www.smu.edu.sg.
Data collection for CSISG 2008 will begin in mid-year, and will
expand to include other sub-sectors, such as insurance.
- TODAY/so
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/340008/1/.html