CEO Video: The importance of service in a time of crisis
The Institute's CEO, Jo Causon, discusses the importance of customer service at this time and of delivering on promises, looking after vulnerable customers and driving a service nation
Top tips to serve your vulnerable customers better
Vulnerable customers can go unnoticed by organisations - if you’re not looking for the signs, you might easily miss them. It is important to assume that, potentially, all customers are vulnerable – there is no such thing as the ‘ideal’ customer. The CARE framework, for example, will help you to identify if a customer is vulnerable. Here are just some of the things you need to watch out for when you’re communicating with a customer:
Maintaining and building customer loyalty during the COVID-19 crisis
Brilliant organisations don’t do something to be seen to be doing it. They do it because it is relevant to their purpose and the right thing to do. As part of our Inspiring a Service Nation campaign – developed and launched before we knew of the impending crisis - we have been calling on businesses to stand up and be counted for the good of the country.
Calm leadership and focus needed in unprecedented coronavirus times
The job of leaders is to keep a level head, stay focused, and navigate the best way forward with the facts that they have at the time. Difficult times call for better leadership.
More than 1,400 restaurants close in year to end of June
Both household names and independents are struggling in the current climate
Diners shunning established cuisines
The restaurant sector continues to decline, but consumers are looking away from traditional favourites
Businesses must resist short-term defensiveness in uncertain times
The Institute's twice yearly UK Customer Satisfaction Index (UKCSI) is perhaps our most revealing and comprehensive piece of research into the state and direction of standards of customer service.
A sticking plaster doesn’t fix a broken leg
Organisations may be better dealing with issues & complaints, but they are not dealing with systemic problems. It's a little bit like trying to use a sticking plaster to fix a broken leg.