There seems to be a silver lining for the consumer in regard to the current economic UK downturn. According to the Institute of Customer Service, who recently carried out a large scale survey, customer service seems to be improving - perhaps due to the economic downturn.

As consumers are increasing their search for better value for money, they are becoming more discerning and less tolerant of poor customer service values from companies. In turn, many companies are realising that if they are going to try and retain customers and market share they need to sharpen up on their quality of customer service.

It’s important for your company to take the time to review your customer service policies and procedures. If possible, a root and branch analysis should take place covering everything from client satisfaction surveys, assessing your telephone call answer efficiency and effectiveness, and reviewing the personal development and training needs of your customer service staff.

Cranfield Business School’s Graham Clark, comments in relation to the ICS survey:

“In any economic climate, organisations that succeed are built on sound management principles. The latest [survey] provides compelling evidence for continuing investment in service excellence - it should convince managers to concentrate on service development rather than take knee-jerk decisions to concentrate on cutting costs.”