The Irish Credit Union has topped the Ireland Customer Experience Report list for the eighth successive year as customer experience more broadly across the wider economy rebounded in 2022.
Credit unions were given a customer experience of 7.97 out of 10 while maintaining its position at the head of the top 10 list in a display of dominance "unheard of in any other market in the world," according to the CX Company.
Explaining the unprecedented performance of credit unions, Cathy Summers, CEO of the CX Company, said the movement's values and ethos are actions put into practice daily by friendly, people-focused staff.
“The [customer experience] culture is so ingrained in credit unions it just comes naturally to staff. Rather than resting on their laurels they are continuing to develop their online offering," Summers said.
"Unlike other financial institutions they are not replacing people with digital but using them in a different way to offer other products and services and to deal with member issues quickly and effectively.
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"They understand better than anyone the importance of balancing the digital experience with the human touch.”
More widely, customer experience among the almost 140 Irish businesses surveyed for the study, conducted by Amárach Research, improved by 3% on average, although it remains 7.8% down on the level recorded in 2015, the first year of the survey.
Businesses were rated 6.51 out of 10 on average for their customer experience, up from 6.32 in 2021 but down from the 2015 score of 7.06.
There were six entrants in the top 10, including PhoneWatch, Specsavers and Marks and Spencer, which all returned to the top tier, while Dunnes Stores, Vhi Healthcare, and Life Pharmacy were all new entrants.
M&S retail moved up 31 places to claim fourth this year due in the main to an improvement in the way staff relate to customers and deal with issues, while Dunnes rose 19 places, replacing Aldi as the supermarket leader.
McCaulley Health & Beauty, which jumped six places to number two, Hickeys Pharmacy and Boots, down four places and one place, respectively, were the only businesses to remain in the top 10 from last year besides credit unions.
Once again supermarkets -- with the Irish owned and operated Dunnes (six) and SupverValu (11) to the fore -- were the leading customer experience performer followed by the retail and insurance sectors.
Some of the biggest jumpers in the 2022 CX league table include Currys PC World, Woodie's, Abrakebabra, Donedeal.ie and DHL, which Summers credited to helpful, reliable staff, an empathetic response to resolving issues, great offers and ease of use when online.
Summers went onto say that investing in customer experience had paid dividends for businesses on the ranking, commenting: "Customers who have seen tangible improvements in their experiences with organisations are willing to pay up to 36% more for a better experience.
"Listening to customer feedback, acting upon issues, and putting a process of continuous CX improvement in place is an effective way of reducing customer churn and this in turn enables companies to manage their pricing strategy, including increases, much more effectively.”
Despite increasing their customer experience scores, Eir, Facebook and Irish Water remain rooted to the foot of the league table, with CX Company chair Michael Killeen blaming their stasis on the improvement of companies around them.
“Looking at the wider picture, stark differences clearly emerged between companies within the same sectors and facing similar challenges," he added.
“This year three sectors, in particular, faced internal challenges brought about by external events, namely utilities, finance and travel.
"The survey findings show that companies which failed to prepare adequately and to adapt to a rapidly changing CX environment were left behind. Unhappy customers will inevitably vote with their feet, and these are the customers competitors are looking to pick up.”
In the banking sector, Bank of Ireland, Permanent TSB and EBS all managed to improve their standing amid the pending withdrawals of Ulster Bank and KBC Bank Ireland, which both fell.
In the survey 39% of Ulster Bank customers said their experience had gotten worse in the last year while the brand fell 22 places to 136th in the league table or fourth from the bottom. AIB, meanwhile, fell 51 places to 125th, the third-biggest fall this year.
"25% of AIB customers say their experience has got worse, that’s one in four," Killeen said. "While both the record €83m fine for the tracker mortgage scandal and its ill-advised decision to remove cash services from 70 of its branches – which it ultimately reversed – definitely impacted its standing with customers – AIB’s CX score has been declining over the last couple of years.
“Customers complain about the lack of staff, the inability to talk to staff on the phone or in person, the lack of foreign exchange and cash facilities as well as increased fees and charges.
"AIB badly needs to focus on CX as a core strategy if it wants to exceed the expectations of its existing customers and if it wants to attract a high proportion of new business from the 500,000 Ulster Bank and KBC accounts yet to move. It could start by putting some ‘Backing Brave’ or ‘Backing Doing’ into its CX strategy.”
Elsewhere, with energy prices continuing to surge, Bord Gais Energy, Electric Ireland, Energia and Flogas all plummeted, with customers angered by a lack of support, companies' inability to take their calls, and confusion over billing and how the first €200 government grant was applied.
Finally, with travel activity surging post-Covid, travel companies were taken aback and saw their scores suffer as a result, with DAA falling to 130th and FreeNow dropping to 132nd.
Bus Eireann, Luas, Aer Lingus and even Ryanair have all seen their CX scores rise, albeit from a low base.
(Pic: Getty Images)
