Ranking: The top 20 companies bossing customer service

The UK customer satisfaction index, which is based on twice-yearly polls of 10,000 consumers, measures the impact of customer service on business performance, tracking customer sentiment on a number of factors including complaint handling, customer experience, ethos, ethics and emotional connection.

The ICS found that the data for 2022, which is measured over two surveys in March/April 2021 and September/October 2021, was made up of a greater number of companies from different sectors – ordinarily, around 50% of the top 50 companies are from the retail sector, but this dropped to 33%. 

Pets at Home, John Lewis and Timpson were the three retailers ranked most highly for customer satisfaction in 2022.

Pets at Home, which came first in the ranking overall, was commended for its customer experience, personal connection with customers, and its ethos.

Customer service rankings

The data for 2022 also found there were a record number of complaints – the ICS said 13% of people had made a complaint in the past year, up from 11% previously.

This was attributed to issues of product availability and reliability during the pandemic. 

As well as a rise in complaints, 16% of those surveyed said that they had had problems with a brand’s service over the year.

“The latest index results demonstrate the complexities of the current environment, with relationships between brands and customers becoming increasingly challenging,” says ICS chief executive Jo Causon. 

“There is no easy remedy for rising prices and shortages of goods, so we must all become better at dealing with delays and disappointments. Although satisfaction with complaint handling and overall satisfaction has improved, we need to address wider service chain issues if we are to improve the nation’s performance and productivity.”

The ICS identified four key factors that customers said were crucial to a positive customer service experience.

1. Focus on non-purchase interactions

”There has been too much focus on the transactional experience from some retailers, and less about everything else that goes around it,” Causon told Retail Week.

The top 50 featured brands from more sectors than ever before, which the ICS believes is down to improvements in sectors other than retail focusing on the end-to-end journey to better the customer experience in what could otherwise be a more negative situation such as an insurance claim.

“What can retailers learn and get back on the front foot for service? They need to look at the full journey and non-purchase interactions – good organisations do this, and it’s how they build up trust,” she adds.

A good example of this is Marks & Spencer, which sends out emails to its database to showcase its ethical stance or offer useful recipes, rather than just selling additional items. 

The ICS also said good companies in the top 20 ensure their online and offline journeys match up. In the retail sector, for example, this means ease of service, where you can buy online and return in-store.

2. Ethical credentials

The ICS said that ethics and sustainability have become increasingly important considerations for customers when choosing companies to associate with.

Elements of this include fair staff wages and treatment, payment of taxes, and sustainable strategy.

According to the data, 60% of those surveyed say they made at least one ethical consideration when judging a customer service experience.

M&S, Timpson, John Lewis and Jet2Holidays were among those most highly ranked by consumers when it came to ethics.

Cancel culture – where companies and brands can be “cancelled” or ostracised due to bad customer service – has also meant there is a greater platform for such issues to come to light and impact how customers view an organisation.

Companies need to carefully consider how they present their ethics and sustainability strategy, both in how they communicate with customers directly and their broader image.

3. Communication

Communication is absolutely crucial when it comes to customer service, according to Causon.

”If everything is too automated, sometimes it can be harder to build up that emotional connection/relationship with the customer where they feel valued and want to be loyal,” she says.

Part of this feeds into the idea of going beyond the transactional relationship – including aftercare and ongoing communication to keep the customer engaged.

Communication is also key when resolving any complaints – customers are much more likely to view an interaction positively if they are kept abreast of every step of the process and told if there will be any delays.

Technology plays into this, as certain tech has helped companies better deal with the number of complaints at a faster pace – speed of response can be as important as the resolution itself, says the ICS.

As such, the UK Power Network is one such company that scored highly for 2022. Despite the disruption its installation of electrical infrastructure causes to local residents, its customer service warnings are sufficiently positive.

4. Reliability

Another of the key elements for respondents when judging brands was their customer ethos – namely, how customer-centric are their customer service systems?

During the pandemic, some companies were called out for turning off their customer service phone lines or directing customers to a particular line of communication to make it easier for themselves, rather than the customer.

“When we’re looking at the differentiators for the top 20, key sentiments for customers are reassurance, a feeling like the staff member cares, and the speed of delivery,” says Causon.

“On the opposite side, customers who have felt they have received bad customer service mentioned frustration and indifference.”

Customers want to know they can rely on a response from the service team in the same way they can rely on the company to deliver want they want, to the place they want, when they want, and for the price they want.

A combination of all these elements is what makes up good customer service, according to the ICS.

Like so much else, the pandemic has upended customer expectations of what constitutes good customer service, and retail has been largely overtaken by other sectors in keeping consumers happy. 

For those looking to improve customer service, focusing on complaint handling, speed of service, streamlining communication lines and keeping promises to consumers should all be a focus heading into 2022.

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