A Lesson in Customer Service

When many travel restrictions were lifted back in October, my family and I decided to book a two week holiday to Spain for Christmas and New Year—our first trip abroad since September 2019.Like many people, we’d missed travelling tremendously and were thrilled to get back to it.

Due to the ongoing risk of Covid, additional requirements were enforced for people travelling abroad from the UK. We had to take an LFT test before boarding our flight back to the UK and then, in order to be allowed back into the country on arrival, take a PCR test and self-isolate until we received a negative result.

I understand why many people are put off from travelling abroad at the moment. The testing requirements make sense from a safety perspective, but they also add an extra level of stress and expense. We had to obtain our tests from one of a very lengthy list of government-approved providers, and we’d heard many horror stories about tests not arriving, results being heavily delayed, or even users not receiving their results at all. Since it was vital that we received our tests and results promptly, we used a company that was personally recommended to us.

We didn’t want to rely on the post during December, so we ordered our tests online and collected them the same day. We enjoyed our holiday, and 48 hours before returning we took the required LFT tests and received our certificates to allow us to fly back to the UK. When we arrived, we took our PCR tests, dropped them off, and received negative results five hours later.

Brilliant, right?

You might be thinking, what a great service! But would I use this testing company again? Would I recommend them to someone else? No and no. Here’s why.

I had a few questions on how to use the service and complete the paperwork. I called the company, but had to call five times because I was cut off unexpectedly the first four times. When I finally spoke to a member of staff, there was a lot of huffing and puffing about “we are busy” and “high call volumes”, but no apology for the delay or for cutting me off. The person I spoke to was also hesitant when answering my questions, and when I called back and spoke to somebody else I got a different answer. This didn’t exactly instil confidence! Overall, I felt that the representative couldn’t get me off the phone quickly enough.

So, though our results arrived very promptly, my overall experience with the company was far from satisfactory. Should I need to use Covid tests to travel abroad again, I’ll be exploring other options and I will not be recommending this company to my family, friends, and colleagues.

Customer Satisfaction Index (UKCIS)

In the January 2022 UK Customer Satisfaction Index (UKCIS), 34% of customers stated that they prefer excellent service from a company, even if it costs more. This figure is rising steadily year on year, and these customers experience an average 85.3 customer satisfaction score (against an average 78.4 experienced by customers as a whole). The main reasons customers stated they were willing to pay more for excellent service include:

●    Trusting the company.

●    Feeling happier knowing that they can access support and advice.

●    Worrying about getting the right product or service for their needs.

As you can see, simply offering a great product or service is not enough if your customer care isn’t also up to scratch. Given that 15.1% of customer complaints related to staff attitude according to the January 2022 UKCIS, my experience with my Covid testing provider was far from unusual. And since 67% of customers cite bad customer service as a reason for switching providers, those complaints likely translate to a significant amount of lost business.

How important is customer service to you and to your business? When was the last time you invested in this aspect of your company? If you’re not prioritising customer care and giving your staff the appropriate training to ensure that they are always empowered to offer first rate service, you may be losing customers without even knowing it.

Would your team and your business benefit from some focused customer service training? If you’d like to learn more about how we can work together to make customer care the priority it deserves to be, get in touch for a no-obligation chat about your needs.

I look forward to supporting you!