2014 Customer Service Hall of Fame
The 2014 Customer service Hall of Fame – 24/7 Wall St. commissioned Zogby Analytics to conduct an on-line national survey in which 2,500 randomly chosen respondents rated Customer service at 150 of the best-known companies in the country. Fifteen industries are represented in the study. It probably won’t surprise you that for the fifth consecutive time, the highest-rated company was Amazon.com.
Top 5 on Customer Service Hall of Fame:
1. Amazon.com – As the largest on-line shopping site in the world, it offers a level of convenience that is difficult for other businesses to match. The company’s roots as a technology company also help Customer service. The site maintains the Customers’ purchase history and makes suggestions accordingly. To the extent that Customer service leads to better financial performance, Amazon.com is clearly doing something right. The on-line retailer reported sales of $74.5 billion last year –nearly triple the 2009 sales of $24.5 billion! Read past eService about Amazon To be the most Customer-centric company in the world.
Related: How Cleveland has become the Customer service capital of the world
2. Hilton Worldwide has the best Customer service of any hotel company in the United States. The company has a long track record of pioneering new initiatives to win the satisfaction of its guests. Hilton has been able to maintain its Customer service focus despite being one of the largest hotel chains in the world, with over $9.7 billion in revenue and more than 4,000 hotels and resorts system wide.
3. Marriott International – Marriott has been among Fortune’s “100 Best Companies to Work For” every year since the magazine started producing the list in 1998, one of only a handful of companies to achieve this. Read past eService about Marriott Empathy outweighs Action.
4. Chick-fil-A is the sole restaurant in the 2014 Customer Service Hall of Fame. Chick-fil-A’s Customer service track record includes a number of innovative ideas. The chain’s employees appear to be satisfied as well. In 2014, Chick-fil-A was rated one of the best companies to work for by Glassdoor.com. Read past eService about Chick-fil-A To make every guest feel cared for in way that cannot be duplicated.
5. American Express – Credit card companies associated with banks tend to suffer from the banks’ often poor public images. Bank of America, Wells Fargo and Citigroup – banks that issue their own credit cards – all made our Customer Service Hall of Shame list this year. While American Express has a banking component, it is generally considered a credit card company and has largely avoided the negative association with the banking industry. Read past eService about Amex improves cardholder experience.
Check out the rest of the Customer Service Hall of Fame
The 2014 Customer Service Hall of Shame – It is important to be consistent; however, I doubt that is what Bank of
America is shooting for, as they lead the nation in bad Customer service. Bank of America has made the Customer Service Hall of Shame every year since 2009.
Related: Watch September’s episode of CX Talk
Worst 3 on Customer Service Hall of Shame:
3. Sprint – In May 2014, Sprint Corp. was fined $7.5 million for failing to honor Customer requests and continuing to deliver unwanted marketing calls and texts. The settlement was the largest do-not-call penalty the FCC had ever reached. Sprint has continued to lose subscribers, even as competitors have been adding millions of new Customers.
2. Comcast – The Customer experience at Comcast is so bad even CEO Brian Roberts has admitted the company needs to do better. Recently Comcast has made headline news in yet another Customer service fiasco when a call of a Customer attempting to cancel his service went viral (read past eService Comcast Massive Fail). Both Congress and regulators are investigating whether Comcast’s merger with Time Warner Cable will be bad for Customer service and Customers’ wallets. Both companies are on this year’s Hall of Shame list.
1. Bank of America – Nearly a quarter of respondents reported a “poor” experience with Bank of America’s banking operations, worse than any other company. Bank of America is again facing a fine of as much as $17 billion related to its past selling of toxic mortgage-backed securities. In 2013, Bank of America cut its total number of branches by 6%, and the bank continues to shed locations as consumers increasingly use mobile devices for banking. Read past eService Banks charging Teller Tax.
Check out the rest of the Customer Service Hall of Shame
Customer eXperience Executive Academy – As a result of our organization’s hiring and promoting a key executive to oversee their company’s Customer Experience, The DiJulius Group has launched the Customer eXperience Executive Academy so companies can send their Customer service leaders for comprehensive training and certification on all the facets and responsibilities that fall under Customer experience. If you or someone in your company is a fit for the Customer eXperience Executive Academy, give us a call today at 440-443-0023.
Related: Don’t miss America’s #1 Customer Service Conference
