Customer Satisfaction

While conducting some recent work for the travel industry, we met customers who believed they were consistently misunderstood, and who felt they had never been able to find the experience they sought. These customers did not see themselves, or define themselves, in the way they were seen or defined by the industry. Agents attempting to sell typical holidays based on age, sex or occupation, for example, were often missing the mark wildly.

A survey of 530 respondents, with an even breakdown between men and women, all of which had travelled at least once in the last year, found that half had in the past chosen not to go on holiday to avoid what they feared would be the typical ‘singles’ holiday.

Foviance’s research demonstrates how a focus on travel industry can help to create markets, drive sales and increase customer satisfaction, as 68% of respondents said they would travel on their own if they could find the right holiday.

Foviance survey identifies gap in travel industry. Market research reveals how businesses are missing out on sales by using outdated means to understand customers.

London, UK, 24 November 2008 - Foviance, the expert in digital customer experience, has found that singles aged between 31-45 years old cannot find a holiday which suits their needs. Foviance’s research demonstrates how a focus on customer experience can help to create markets, drive sales and increase customer satisfaction, as 68% of respondents said they would travel on their own if they could find the right holiday.

A survey of 530 respondents, with an even breakdown between men and women, all of which had travelled at least once in the last year, found that half had in the past chosen not to go on holiday to avoid what they feared would be the typical ‘singles’ holiday.

The full research report entitled “Making the intangible tangible” found the travel sector is missing out on a massive opportunity by not understanding the needs of a large potential market. While most travel companies know the basics about customers such as their age, sex and where they live, they fail to understand who these people really are and what they want out of a holiday.

The main reason behind this age group choosing not to travel (as a single person) was that they had no one to go away with (31%). 10% of people also admitted to being embarrassed that they were single. This embarrassment was not only felt during the booking phase but also while on holiday. Location, meeting like-minded people of a similar age group and being away from younger singles’ parties were all cited as priorities. They felt what was on offer from the travel industry does not suit their needs.

Creating a positive customer experience depends on providing a holistic experience which supports every step of the customer interaction. While companies are finding it difficult to design consistent customer experiences that differentiate them as an organisation, by understanding customers and creating products that meet their expectations, there is also a significant opportunity to become a trusted advisor and ultimately maximise the relationship in monetary terms.

Currently, friends are seen as the most trusted source of information on singles holidays (25%), with websites coming a close second (21%). The least trusted source of information came from direct marketing (21%), blogs (18%), TV (13%), lifestyle magazines (11%) and travel press (11%).

Marty Carroll, Consultancy Director, Foviance said: “Organisations’ lack of understanding means that most focus on selling products and services rather than concentrating on delivering customer experiences. The end result is a fragmented product or service experience, delivered to a target audience which has been defined by a marketing tool developed for a market environment that no longer exists. Once organisations start focusing on who their customers really are what they love and hate and what they are missing out on, real customer experiences can be created. Companies that do not evolve and deliver exceptional customer experiences risk losing sales and market share to those that do.”

Download the full research report

Press coverage

Precision Marketing From brochure to browser
By David Reed, December 11, 2008

TravelWeekly Agents sign up for single travel site Someone2travelwith.com
By Chloe Berman, December 03, 2008

eTravelBlackboard Gen-X wants grown-up singles holidays
By Travel Blackboard, November 28, 2008

HotelMarketing.com Survey: Singles can’t find the right holiday
By Hotel Marketing, November 26, 2008

asap.co.ukNews Solo travellers say their needs are not being met
By Andrew Bones, November 26, 2008

Skyscanner.net Half of single travellers wouldn’t want to book flights abroad
By Skyscanner Ltd, November 26, 2008

Travolution.co.uk Foviance survey identifies gap in travel industry market
By Foviance Press Release, November 25, 2008

GoLearnToTravelBlog Time for new singles holiday ideas
By Vanessa, November 25, 2008

C&M.co.uk Industry ‘failing singles’
By C & M Recruitment, November 25, 2008

ulookubook.com Travel industry doesn’t cater to middle-aged singles
By Travel Industy News, November 25, 2008

WorldNewsNetwork links through to full story from Travel Daily News
TravelDailyNews Foviance survey identifies gap in travel industry market
By Travel Daily News International, November 25, 2008

NetImperative.com Travel industry missing trick with 30-something singles
By Net Imperative, November 25, 2008

For further press information please contact:
Melanie Hesketh / Becky Cheers
Prompt Communications for Foviance
+44 208 996 1638 / +44 208 996 1636
foviance@prompt-communications.com

I recently went to log in to my Alliance & Leicester online bank account and was met by a clear, comforting statement: ‘Peace of mind…we’re backed by one of the world’s largest banks.’ I thought it was interesting how in these difficult times, my bank was thinking of its customers’ concerns and sending out such a reassuring message.

It made me wonder what messages other banks were posting on their homepages in response to the current financial situation. Surprisingly, the answer was that very few of them were following suit.

Barclays did have a small, red link in its left hand menu that read ‘Why your money is safe with Barclays’. The homepage of Lloyds TSB was promoting money saving tips while also providing a link to information on ‘Lloyds TSB and HBOS plc - what does it all mean?’ Halifax just had a tiny ‘HBOS/LloydsTSB announcement’ link in the common enquiries section tucked away on the right hand side of the page. None of these felt particularly reassuring, and there was no obvious messaging at all on the homepages of RBS, NatWest, HSBC or Bank of Scotland.

Given all the media hype surrounding the financial crisis, you can be sure that many consumers have been trying to find out more about the safety of their own money, which makes this oversight on the parts of many financial institutions all the more surprising.

I took a look at the Financial Services Authority (FSA) site, thinking that it might be a useful place for consumers to go to get information about what they should be doing with their money right now, if anything. It doesn’t look like the most inviting of sites with its high density of links, but if you are brave enough to click on ‘consumer information’ or the ‘money made clear‘ promotion, you will be taken to a much friendlier site full of financial facts, helpful tips and interactive tools. This is definitely a site worth spending some time on if you have any financial questions.

The BBC, as you would also expect, has dedicated a good deal of time and online real estate to the financial frenzy, not only with up to the minute news coverage of the global crisis, but also with articles directed at consumers and how it might affect them. There’s even a layman’s financial crisis glossary - most useful if you find the world of banking jargon a bit of a mystery.

So, there is information and advice available on the Internet. But it would still be nice to see the banks themselves each taking the time to reassure customers on the homepages of their websites. Alliance & Leicester’s use of the online channel definitely impressed me. Not only did it make use of its homepage to send a clear message, but I also received a personalised email to explain its acquisition by the Santander group and what it meant for me.

In these difficult financial times, it would make sound sense for banks to make the most of the online channel to reassure unsettled consumers.

“10% of you have listened to people having sex!” This was just one of the many statistics provided to call centre operatives by Tim Bishop, Head of Strategy for programme and awards sponsor Siemens at last nights gala dinner and awards ceremony for the ‘Top 50 Call Centres‘. The evening celebrated customer service excellence and the atmosphere from the outset was palpable.

The screen behind the stage rotated the logos of the top 50 companies, and there was a cheer from each group every time their logo appeared. The auditory Mexican wave was something to behold and went on throughout the dinner until the awards ceremony proper began. After an hour or so of continued, and increasingly enthusiastic cheering, I began to realise how little positive recognition the call centre operatives receive and also how competitive they are.

Eamonn Holmes hosted the evening and presented the awards and was an excellent speaker. He particularly enjoyed congratulating the team of nine very attractive ladies and one ‘fella’ from Holiday Express who won the best overall in the Entertainment, Leisure and Travel category. He even took the trouble to visit their table after the awards had ended and congratulate them personally. What a martyr!

The awards are the brain child of Claudia Hathway, Editor of CCF magazine who opened the event with a rousing speech about how call centre operatives were unrecognised for the good work they do. She set a challenge for all companies to achieve an average of 95% satisfaction next year, which looks like a tough target if you ignore how competitive these people are. The data was pulled together by mystery shopping partner GFK NOP who carried out the biggest ever survey of its kind gathering real customer experience data based on real consumer feedback. And the competition was very close with only 1 1/2% separating the top 5 call centres.

So finally, here are the winners:

* 1st was First Direct, who were also 1st in the Financial Services category. They achieved an overall satisfaction score of 91.73%.
* Denplan were narrowly beaten into second place with 91.32%
* 3rd was F&C Investments with 91.26%
* 4th overall was Lloyds TSB Insurance with 91.02%
* 5th and also best in the retail category was Laithwaites with 90.36%
* 6th Prudential with 89.33%
* 7th with 89.29% Charles Tyrwhitt
* 8th ING Direct with 87.89%
* 9th was Specsavers with 87.57%
* 10th and also winners in the public sector category were Cambridgshire County Council with a customer service rating of 87.13%
* Holiday Extras won the best in Entertainment/Leisure and Travel category with a rating of 85%

Given our recent study in to the travel sector the low overall score and lowest category score is of no surprise and clearly, for all the celebrating last night, this sector has a lot to do.

In any fast-moving industry, it’s usually possible to get a glimpse of the future by studying the past. The foundations of the modern usability and customer experience industry were built from the principles of HCI, or human-computer interaction, an area of study which kick-started ongoing investigation into the interface between technology and people across a broad variety of platforms and channels.

When the HCI industry gathered momentum in the 1980s, it was primarily concerned with making desktop software easier to use. By the time the mass-market leapt online in the 1990s and branches of HCI had begun evolving into usability, its proponents were employing ‘discount usability’ methods that made some headway to improving usability but were not allowed to slow down development timescales.

During the 1990s web design methods and agency productivity centered on technology itself rather than the eventual consumers of the information, and this attitude dictated the design process. By 2001, a more user-centric approach had begun gaining currency within the web design community and we were ahead of the pack in recognising the value of usability testing. We believed it was important to conduct usability studies in the early stages of web design, helping to create sites that were more in keeping with the needs of end users. We understood the importance of the bottom-line needs of businesses, but argued successfully that aligning design with what was best for its users would ultimately be good for business too.

Back to the present day: I believe it is time that similar user-centric design techniques used so successfully for the web are now applied to a wide range of other services across multiple channels. The experiences customers have with different channels are summed to make up the customer’s impression of the whole brand, and forward thinking companies need to be thinking about customer experience holistically. It doesn’t matter that the web experience is great if the call centre keeps people on hold forever, for example. Similarly, it doesn’t matter that goods are shipped immediately if they’re poorly packaged and arrive smashed into pieces.

We are applying the same rigour with which we approach webdesign across all other customer ‘touch points’, to establish where there are breakdowns. We have found that when we take this user-centric design approach, our clients improve their customer experience, boost retention and satisfaction
of calls, increase customer ‘lifetimes’, and the whole business is impacted positively and profitably, just as it was with the earlier days of user-centric web usability.

Some people say that unlike time and turnover, customer experience is intangible and impossible to measure. We disagree. With the right metrics, and the processes to record them, you can measure the quality of the customer experience. The Apple Store, which offers customer support surgeries and training, shows how a good customer experience can be an important part of the brand. While there are many companies that see customer experience as a cost, those that thrive will be the ones who choose to see it as a worthwhile investment.