According to the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) it is. It’s interesting, because I keep hearing/reading different opinions on this subject and how it’s an indicator of the recession improving.
Some are saying customer service is just a poor as always in some areas, or in fact, is declining as employees become more disgruntled with work conditions. Others say – such as the following article, that businesses have taken heed of the recession and have taken steps to improve their customer service as a result. And this in turn is helping the economy slowly begin to recover.
Perhaps it’s a little bit of both. The stronger and smarter businesses who know where they need to make changes to survive the economy have been making the right choices and taking action. The others who don’t care as much, or maybe don’t know how to make effective changes, are the ones suffering.
I can tell you one thing – the mention of customer service offices moving overseas too save money is definitely not the answer. In fact, I was quite disappointed to read that bit of information. While I understand the need to save money, outsourcing simply leads to a slew of other problems, as I’ve mentioned in one of my previous posts. Any companies using this method as a means to save money will only find themselves losing business because their customers will not be satisfied with their new customer service.
In the meantime, take a look at the article and see what you think. Are we moving out of the recession? Is customer service actually getting better? Let me know what you think!
Customer satisfaction has been on the rise since late last year and some analysts think the upward trend is a… (read article here).
August 24th, 2009 at 8:00 am
Maybe is increasing because customers have many and many tool, social, blogs on Internet to tell their experience, to receive help, client has many information, potentially much more than a simple people that answers on a call center support; I think many companies, also top companies, have to work hardly to improve their Customer Services
August 24th, 2009 at 10:47 am
Definitely social media is having an impact on customer service, and I think in a positive way. In fact, I discuss it a little bit in my earlier post http://www.thecustomerauthority.com/2009/08/using-social-marketing-to-build-customer-service/. Companies who use social media well, and no only really pay attention, but respond to what their customers are saying, are the ones who will most succeed.