New Financial Services Customer Satisfaction Insights from TTi Global - Best and Worst UK Providers Identified

OXFORDSHIRE, England, Sept. 6, 2018 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- UK Financial Services 'Well off' for Customer Satisfaction

The most recent findings from TTi Global's Customer Satisfaction Benchmarking Report, overall, paint a positive picture of Financial Services Providers in the UK. Satisfaction scores collated during the period between June 2017 and April 2018 show the Financial Services sector receiving an overall satisfaction score of 77/100 – trumping the UK's Distribution (46/100) and Telecommunications (58/100) sectors.

While this data is encouraging, there still lies an imbalance between individual Financial Services Providers and the quality of the customer service interactions their customers experience.

Delight Vs Disappointment – The Interactions that Frustrate Customers the Most

The leading UK market research firm surveyed 3,875 respondents across a range of industry sectors. TTi Global's survey measures customer satisfaction against customer effort across a broad range of Financial Services interactions [Figure 1].

The following interactions received the highest overall satisfaction scores:

1. Renewing Cover – Customer Satisfaction Rating: 92/100
2. Credit Card Services – Customer Satisfaction Rating: 91/100
3. Resolving a Claim – Customer Satisfaction Rating: 88/100

The following interactions received the lowest satisfaction scores:

1. Switching Bank Account – Customer Satisfaction Rating: 68/100
2. Reporting a Problem – Customer Satisfaction Rating: 66/100

Glyn Luckett, Commercial Director at TTi Global explained: "To switch a bank account, customers need to put in a considerably higher amount of effort in order to make their desired changes – with tasks including re-directing income (salary or benefits) and bill payments to other providers (such as mortgage, loan and utility companies). This is a more time-consuming process which can potentially lead to errors, including missed payments, or overdue payment fees. Our data suggests the effort involved in moving bank accounts and following up problems still outweighs the many cash-in-hand incentives banks and building societies offer to customers."

It is important for UK Finance companies to take steps to reduce the time and effort in these transitions.

The Cost of Leaving Customers Hanging

'Reporting a Problem' was identified by customers as the top cause of Financial Services frustration, awarding these actions with the lowest score of just 66/100, demonstrating that the principle cause of dissatisfaction was 'Length of time on hold' with a score of 75/100.

Glyn Luckett added further insight to this issue: "Call centre systems are commonly cited as a major cause of irritancy for customers who, besides long call waiting times, may also experience being cut off, inconvenient call times, or being incorrectly transferred to the wrong department – which can result in having to repeat their enquiry all over again before being connected with the correct staff member. Recent statistics show the genuine cost of leaving customers hanging on the telephone, with 25% switching provider because they've been kept on hold and 32% switching because they're tired of talking to multiple agents."

Best and Worst

The latest figures from TTi Global [Figure 2] show that, of the Financial services providers captured, AMEX and Nationwide received the highest overall satisfaction scores, with scores of 96 and 95, respectively. Barclays also achieved slightly above the industry average (77) with its score of 78. The lowest satisfaction score of those surveys was received by Santander, with a satisfaction score of 57/100.

Why Customer Satisfaction Matters

Increasing customer satisfaction encourages brand loyalty and preference, and also drives revenue growth. TTi Global's benchmarking data gives you the sector insights you need to improve your customer journey across all channels, including:

• Pinpointing the interactions with your company that delight and frustrate customers
• Identifying where improvements are needed in priority order
• Revealing how your company performs compared to your closest competitors and wider industry

For further information about TTi Global's benchmarking survey, or to find out more about commissioning your own company customer satisfaction research, contact TTi Global.

Download the Survey and Referenced Figures

The Sector Spotlight on Financial Services from the Benchmark Survey report can be downloaded here: https://www.tti-global-research.co.uk/media-resources.

Note to Editors

Editors are welcome to use any of the data or slides, attributed to TTi Global Research. For further comment or to discuss any of the findings, contact Glyn Luckett at TTi Global Research: [email protected] or call 01753 214000.

About the TTi Global Research Benchmarking Survey

The survey was conducted across 3,875 UK respondents in all sectors over 12 months between 1 June 2017 and 1 June 2018. Respondents were asked to provide customer satisfaction and customer effort ratings, as well as answer questions about their loyalty and recommendation intentions relating to interactions with different service providers.

TTi Global champions great service through understanding service provision, customer needs and drivers of customer loyalty. Its customer satisfaction benchmarking data supports this understanding through gauging different sectors' performance.

The surveys are conducted across UK-based participants across a variety of sectors. Respondents are asked to provide customer satisfaction and customer effort ratings, as well as answer questions about their loyalty and recommendation intentions relating to interactions with different service providers.

Sectors covered include:

• Retail
• Online Retail
• Banking
• Airlines
• Automotive
• Insurance
• Distribution
• Telecoms
• Utilities
• Hospitality

About TTI Global Research

An accredited Market Research Society (MRS) Company Partner, TTI Global Research operates a fully integrated quality management system at every stage of every research project, assuring the highest quality market research methodologies, data output and analysis.

A unique approach, combining the 'what' and 'how' data with the essential 'why', equips clients with powerful insights enabling them to implement changes and accelerate business growth.

Find out more about TTi Global Research at https://www.tti-global-research.co.uk

If you would like further comment or to discuss any of the findings, contact Glyn Luckett at TTi Global Research: [email protected] or call 01753 214000.

Images

The report plus images and logos for your use can be accessed via this link: https://www.tti-global-research.co.uk/media-resources

SOURCE TTi Global Research