SIA, Changi Airport are S’poreans' favourite brands, financial services the best industry: Survey

SINGAPORE — A new ranking of the brands offering Singaporeans the best customer experience put regular accolade winners Singapore Airlines in top spot and Changi Airport second – but the travel industry was not the best-performing sector overall.

Instead, it was the financial services sector that came out on top in the survey conducted by global auditing firm KPMG.

And of several criteria that KPMG believes are crucial to a good customer experience, it was “integrity” that was most important for the financial services brands in Singapore. Visa was the highest ranking financial services brand, in third spot overall.

The annual 2019 Customer Experience Excellence Report, which was released on Dec 5, was conducted through an online survey completed in the first two quarters of this year.

While it is unclear how many Singaporean customers were polled, the report stated that the global survey of more than 84,000 consumers included a “nationally representative consumer sample” in terms of age and gender for each of the 20 countries polled.

The participants were asked to respond to questions about a specific company that they had interacted with in the last six months.

TOP 15 BRANDS IN SINGAPORE

1. Singapore Airlines
2. Changi Airport
3. Visa
4. Apple
5. Mastercard
6. DBS Bank
7. NTUC FairPrice
8. Nets
9. Decathlon
10. PayPal
11. Amazon
12. FedEX
13. OCBC
14. M1
15. DHL

WHICH INDUSTRIES PROVIDE THE BEST AND WORST CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE?

Aside from listing the top 15 brands, the report also grouped the brands into seven sectors in Singapore and ranked them.

1. Financial services
2. Grocery retail
3. Non-grocery retail
4. Travel
5. Telecoms
6. Logistics
7. Utilities

THE SIX PILLARS OF CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE EXCELLENCE

The report said that the “six pillars” represent what KMPG believes are the fundamental components of a great customer experience.

• Personalisation: Described as the most valuable component, it involves using individualised attention to drive emotional connection. For instance, the use of someone’s name, knowledge of their preferences and past interactions “all add up to an experience that feels personal”.

• Resolution: This essentially refers to turning a poor experience into a great one. The report says that even with the best processes and procedures, things can go wrong. What is important is the “customer recovery”, which can quickly put customers back in the position where they should have been, and even make them feel good about it. “A sincere apology and acting with urgency” are two crucial elements.

• Integrity: The report says this trait can only be built by consistent organisational behaviour that demonstrates trustworthiness. For instance, it says that organisations may need to publicly react to a difficult situation. The organisation's reaction and individual actions by staff during these moments will inform how customers perceive them.

• Time and effort: “Customers are time-poor and increasingly looking for instant gratification,” says the report. It found that removing unnecessary obstacles, impediments and bureaucracy to allow customers to achieve their goals quickly have proved to be effective in building customer loyalty.

• Expectations: Customers have expectations about their needs, says the report, and the bar is constantly set higher by the best brands they have encountered. The report says that great organisations understand this, and are able to deliver and even, when appropriate, exceed expectations.

• Empathy: Empathy-creating behaviours help establish strong relationships between a business and its customers. This includes organisations telling customers they know how they feel, and will take an “extra step” for them precisely because of that reason.

Here are the top three pillars that impact brand loyalty and advocacy, based on the responses of Singaporean customers.

Loyalty: Personalisation (20 per cent); integrity (18 per cent); time and effort (17 per cent).

Advocacy: Integrity (19 per cent); personalisation and expectations (both pillars tied at 18 per cent); time and effort (16 per cent).

WHAT MADE THE FINANCIAL SECTOR STAND OUT?

The report found that the financial services sector scored well due to a shift towards more customer-centric and personalised service.

In one example, it said that FWD Insurance stood out for its direct-to-consumer approach.

“(This) has given the company full control over end-to-end customer interactions,” it said. “As a result, they are able to provide consistently high levels of customer experience across all mediums of customer interaction.”

The report also highlighted the importance of companies showing integrity as “Singapore’s consumers appreciate robustness in the security of its (financial) services”.

HOW ABOUT SINGAPORE AIRLINES AND CHANGI AIRPORT?

The report states that Singapore Airlines “continuously drives to provide personalised, customer-centric and innovative experiences to its customers” through its employees.

To empower its staff, as well as to engage them and make processes more efficient, the airline also actively invests in solutions such as data science and automation.

As for Changi Airport, the report says it is notable for investing in the “time and effort” pillar to deliver smooth customer experiences.

“Indeed, the building has been designed to allow people to pass through in the most efficient way possible,” it said.

The opening of Jewel has also turned the airport from just a pitstop to a new destination for both travellers and locals.

HOW SHOULD ORGANISATIONS TRANSFORM?

The report says the six pillars help provide a blueprint for organisations seeking to provide a better customer service experience.

It recommends that companies first start by providing consistent and reliable experiences by focusing on the integrity and expectations components.

Next, they can improve their performance by anticipating and proactively solving their customers’ issues — these fall under the resolution, and time and effort categories.

Lastly, organisations can start anticipating the needs and wants of their customers through personalisation and empathy.

Said Mr Guillaume Sachet, a partner at KPMG Singapore: "Something personal can never become fully standardised.

"That’s why the next frontier for brands in Singapore is to be able to deliver fully personalised experiences for consumers based on the data and insights these companies have about them."

The report adds that companies should not forget their employees as well.

Mr Ram Lakshminarayanan, also a KPMG Singapore partner, said customer experience is rooted in employee behaviour.

“(This) is in turn defined by the company culture,” he said. “Therein lies the importance of focusing on what employees experience in the company, even before they interface with customers.”