The release of The Institute of Customer Service’s latest UK Customer Satisfaction Index has generated plenty of discussion over the past few weeks. Banking has overtaken retail as the UK’s highest-rated sector for customer satisfaction, consumer confidence has fallen over the last six months, and customers are placing greater importance on reassurance, transparency and human support. Customer satisfaction has remained stable, but the headlines of the report are only part of the story.
It’s interesting how some organisations continue to improve customer satisfaction whilst others appear to stand still, others decline – some of the movement up and down the table is quite dramatic. However, these businesses are operating in the same economic climate, facing many of the same challenges around cost, productivity and digital transformation, yet customers clearly experience them differently. That suggests the challenges lie elsewhere.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) dominates almost every boardroom conversation I have today. Organisations are rightly exploring how technology can improve productivity, reduce cost and simplify customer journeys. None of those things are bad, and in fact, failing to embrace AI is going to become a competitive disadvantage. What is beginning to play out however is the possibility that, in the race to become more efficient, some organisations are losing sight of what customers actually value.
The UKCSI provides an interesting reminder that whilst technology continues to evolve, human expectations remain remarkably consistent. Customers still value trust. They still value transparency. They still want reassurance that, when something goes wrong, they can speak to somebody who understands their situation and is empowered to resolve it. Technology can undoubtedly improve those experiences, but it cannot replace the confidence that comes from dealing with an organisation people genuinely believe has their interests at heart.
This is where Brand and Marketing Directors have perhaps been undervalued for too long. I’ve always said, as I know what the nuts and bolts of many businesses look like, that isn’t it funny that some brands who perform well in the customer satisfaction space, operationally can be behind the curve. Very far behind in some instances. Brand reputation and customer loyalty means everything.
That is why one of the report’s conclusions makes so much sense to me: customer strategy belongs in the boardroom. I would probably take that a step further. I don’t believe customer experience simply just needs a presence in the board room. It needs accountability at board level – measuring at board level as a business KPI.
Every decision made around strategy, investment, recruitment, organisational design and culture eventually finds its way to the customer. By the time a customer contacts an organisation, they are experiencing the cumulative effect of hundreds of decisions made long before that interaction took place. Whether an organisation appears joined-up, whether colleagues take ownership, whether problems are resolved quickly and whether customers feel valued are all reflections of leadership and culture, not simply operational execution.
This is one of the reasons I have always believed organisations should spend as much time thinking about leadership capability as they do about technology. Business transformation doesn’t tend to fail because the technology wasn’t capable of delivering the outcome. More often, it struggles because organisations underestimate the importance of leadership alignment, communication, culture, people engagement, and delivery. Delivery of course is carried out through… people.
One of the more fascinating findings in this year’s UKCSI is that banking has overtaken retail for customer satisfaction. Fifteen to twenty years ago, very few people would have predicted this. It didn’t happen overnight, nor was it achieved through technology alone. It reflects years of investment in customer journeys, digital capability, operational improvement and, crucially, leadership. That should give confidence to organisations in every sector that meaningful improvement is possible, even where public perception has historically been poor.
As AI becomes increasingly accessible, and now potentially more expensive, I actually believe trust will become an even more valuable competitive advantage. Technology will become easier to buy, but shortcuts around usage will be sought due to newer pricing models. In parallel, customer expectations will continue to rise. What will remain difficult to replicate is an organisation that consistently invests in a brand strategy, taking their values to their marketplace and truly embedding and living those values, whilst earning customer confidence through its decisions, its people and its leadership.
The organisations leading the way with customer satisfaction, and subsequently overall business performance, are unlikely to be those that simply implement AI the fastest. They will be the organisations that use technology to strengthen relationships rather than replace them. Those that invest time and money into their brand, what they stand for, and appealing to their customers emotional needs.
AI will not replace humankind. It is part of our evolution. Its role is to enhance human capability and improve quality of life, not replace or diminish either.
