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<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>Customer satisfaction levels down
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><TR>SMU survey finds drop across 8 sectors, from finance to health care </TR><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Lim Wei Chean
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The biggest drop registered in the survey was in the tourism, hotel and accommodation service industry, which fell 2.4 points to 68.6 out of 100. The survey results come in the wake of Singapore's improved showing in international service rankings. -- ST PHOTO: ALPHONSUS CHERN
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->SINGAPORE may have clawed itself up to No. 10 worldwide in international service rankings, but people here do not share this positive view of standards.
Customer satisfaction levels have dipped slightly, according to a survey of almost 35,000 respondents.
<TABLE width=200 align=left valign="top"><TBODY><TR><TD class=padr8><!-- Vodcast --><!-- Background Story -->RELATED LINKS
<!-- Audio --><!-- Video --><!-- PDF -->
http://www.straitstimes.com/STI/STIMEDIA/pdf/20090420/B1-2.pdf
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</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Conducted by Singapore Management University's (SMU) Institute of Service Excellence, the survey found a drop in customer satisfaction across all eight sectors here - from finance to health care.
The biggest drop was recorded for the tourism, hotel and accommodation service industry, down 2.4 points to 68.6 out of 100.
The food and beverage sector was the next worst-performing with a decline of 2.3 points to hit 65.4.
These responses run contrary to the money and programmes pumped in to improve service standards here in the last few years.
=> Use $ to subsidize FTrash!
The Go the Extra Mile for Service - or Gems - campaign was initiated in 2005 after Singapore was ranked 17th for customer service in the World Economic Forum's global report. In 2006, it fell even further - coming in at 26th, before redeeming itself at 15th and then 10th in 2007 and last year respectively.
Singapore Retailers Association (SRA) executive director Lau Chuen Wei said it was rather surprising to note a drop in SMU's survey scores.
In fact, she said that SRA's own mystery shopping programme, which measures service standards in 155 retail companies, had registered improved service levels.
Ms Lau said the SRA results show that the retail industry's average scores went up from 70.87 per cent to 73.61 per cent, in contrast to the national Customer Satisfaction Index, which rated the retail sector at 68.1 out of 100, down 0.4 points.
SRA's study was conducted between November last year and January 2009, the same period as the SMU survey.
It rated companies for service attributes such as how service staff approach customers, the ambience of the shop and staff attitude.
But Assistant Professor Marcus Lee, academic director at SMU's Institute of Service Excellence, said the two scores are measuring different things.
'Customer satisfaction is more than service quality; it involves more than just delivering good service,' he said.
Prof Lee cited the example of a diner at a restaurant where the service is excellent but the food takes too long to arrive. Customer satisfaction in this case would be low even though service quality is high.
He stressed that processes in place 'have as important a role to play in satisfying customers as the front-line staff do'.
Service quality is one of the components measured in the index under perceived overall quality, which also takes into account quality of the product.
Other drivers for the index are customer expectations and perceived value, which is an indicator of whether customers feel they are getting what they pay for.
Ms Caroline Lim, director at the SMU Institute of Service Excellence, said all three drivers fell last year.
The steepest drop was in perceived value, down 0.96 per cent from 2007.
Ms Lim said this implies that 'customers are becoming more discerning, demanding better value for every dollar spent', which could be a result of the current recession.
The full results for the second Customer Satisfaction Index for last year will be announced today. [email protected]
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>Customer satisfaction levels down
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><TR>SMU survey finds drop across 8 sectors, from finance to health care </TR><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Lim Wei Chean
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --><TR vAlign=bottom><TD width=330>
</TD><TD width=10>
The biggest drop registered in the survey was in the tourism, hotel and accommodation service industry, which fell 2.4 points to 68.6 out of 100. The survey results come in the wake of Singapore's improved showing in international service rankings. -- ST PHOTO: ALPHONSUS CHERN
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->SINGAPORE may have clawed itself up to No. 10 worldwide in international service rankings, but people here do not share this positive view of standards.
Customer satisfaction levels have dipped slightly, according to a survey of almost 35,000 respondents.
<TABLE width=200 align=left valign="top"><TBODY><TR><TD class=padr8><!-- Vodcast --><!-- Background Story -->RELATED LINKS
<!-- Audio --><!-- Video --><!-- PDF -->
<!-- Photo Gallery -->
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Conducted by Singapore Management University's (SMU) Institute of Service Excellence, the survey found a drop in customer satisfaction across all eight sectors here - from finance to health care.
The biggest drop was recorded for the tourism, hotel and accommodation service industry, down 2.4 points to 68.6 out of 100.
The food and beverage sector was the next worst-performing with a decline of 2.3 points to hit 65.4.
These responses run contrary to the money and programmes pumped in to improve service standards here in the last few years.
=> Use $ to subsidize FTrash!
The Go the Extra Mile for Service - or Gems - campaign was initiated in 2005 after Singapore was ranked 17th for customer service in the World Economic Forum's global report. In 2006, it fell even further - coming in at 26th, before redeeming itself at 15th and then 10th in 2007 and last year respectively.
Singapore Retailers Association (SRA) executive director Lau Chuen Wei said it was rather surprising to note a drop in SMU's survey scores.
In fact, she said that SRA's own mystery shopping programme, which measures service standards in 155 retail companies, had registered improved service levels.
Ms Lau said the SRA results show that the retail industry's average scores went up from 70.87 per cent to 73.61 per cent, in contrast to the national Customer Satisfaction Index, which rated the retail sector at 68.1 out of 100, down 0.4 points.
SRA's study was conducted between November last year and January 2009, the same period as the SMU survey.
It rated companies for service attributes such as how service staff approach customers, the ambience of the shop and staff attitude.
But Assistant Professor Marcus Lee, academic director at SMU's Institute of Service Excellence, said the two scores are measuring different things.
'Customer satisfaction is more than service quality; it involves more than just delivering good service,' he said.
Prof Lee cited the example of a diner at a restaurant where the service is excellent but the food takes too long to arrive. Customer satisfaction in this case would be low even though service quality is high.
He stressed that processes in place 'have as important a role to play in satisfying customers as the front-line staff do'.
Service quality is one of the components measured in the index under perceived overall quality, which also takes into account quality of the product.
Other drivers for the index are customer expectations and perceived value, which is an indicator of whether customers feel they are getting what they pay for.
Ms Caroline Lim, director at the SMU Institute of Service Excellence, said all three drivers fell last year.
The steepest drop was in perceived value, down 0.96 per cent from 2007.
Ms Lim said this implies that 'customers are becoming more discerning, demanding better value for every dollar spent', which could be a result of the current recession.
The full results for the second Customer Satisfaction Index for last year will be announced today. [email protected]
