Who’s the best at service? Believe it or not, but we Aussies are actually regarded as being hot shots at customer service. Yes, despite what you might’ve heard, or received at the hands of second-rate waiters and shop assistants, Australia has come out on top of a 12-country study of customer service standards.

Where’s the proof?
It wasn’t too long ago that international brand experience agency GAPbuster Worldwide reported in Melbourne that Australia had achieved number one status in each of the six categories used in a benchmark study.

Now while a cynic might throw a few comments here, we weren’t compared to some of the most anti-customer nations in the world. The study covered Australia, Japan, the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Sweden, Denmark, Hong Kong and New Zealand. This, of course, suggests it was a fair comparison.

Was it full of surprises?
Yes it was. Another surprise was that we finished on top of all categories, however, not all countries were measured against each other in every category.

The industry categories examined were mobile phones, fast food, do-it-yourself, petrol (service stations), convenience stores and postal.

Sure, they have left out some key customer experiences such as restaurants and other leisure businesses, but the selected categories give a pretty good feel for the general attitude towards customers.

How many people were involved?
The findings emerged from some 7000 GAPbuster evaluators who selected sites at random to assess customer service against benchmark standards.

Phil Prosser, who is the CEO of GAPbuster Worldwide, said the result clearly reflects the increasing importance that customer service has in Australia.

So when did we change?
While this is a turnaround that probably happened over the past 10 years or so, the seeds were sown back in the 1980s.
‘In a smaller economy, businesses need to work even harder to retain existing customers to maintain growth,’ Prosser argues. ‘Interestingly, those that are providing best practice in customer service are clearly showing the highest staff satisfaction.’

Why did we change?
Australia got a massive kick in the pants in 1985 when the Oz dollar dived into the US 50 cents region following Treasurer Paul Keating’s famous ‘banana republic’ reference.

Out of that came economic reforms of industries, regulations, privatisation, lower trade protection and a whole range of other changes. The first big one was the floating of the dollar in 1983, which of course made it impossible for governments to cover up a ‘suss’ economy. The dollar dived because change was needed.

What’s the dollar got to do with it?
Well, here’s the tie into customer service really. Deregulation and tearing down regulation and protection happened as globalisation was forcing countries to compete more with each other. The Internet pushed along the demands for more globalisation and more economic change.

A weak dollar and worrying foreign debt convinced unions to be less demanding and to be more mindful of needing to contribute to higher productivity to pay for higher wages.

The economic challenges also encouraged the growth of small businesses where customer service is critical to survival.

Does being small give an edge?
Often the biggest advantage of a small business is the ability of even the boss to handle the issues of a key customer.

Also, over the time, we have become a player in international tourism and the low dollar actually helped this development. This is one industry that demands customer service to be of an internationally comparative level. This standard has also spread to other industries.

Anything else?
Other interesting findings from GAPbuster’s work were that customer expectations of service were highest in Japan and that the United States’ renowned service philosophy was faltering. On the home front, staff friendliness, staff knowledge and efficiency of service remain the top three of Australian customer expectations.

Any tips?
For those running their own business, note this: value-for-money (attractive pricing) has fallen from seventh to 11th ranking. At the same time, staff responsiveness has gone from ninth to fifth place.
The following shows what customers rate highest:

1. Staff friendliness
2. Staff knowledge
3. Efficiency of service
4. Professionalism
5. Responsiveness
6. Atmosphere
7. Taking ownership of service
8. Reliability
9. Product range/appeal
10. Accessibility
11. Value for money
12. Store presentation

So what’s the lesson?
The rankings give you a great benchmark to compare your business against. They undoubtedly should give you direction on how you can sculpt your business to make it more compulsory for customers to deal with you.

Also, don’t forget what drove Australia to lift its game — both economically and in terms of customer service. It was facing the severity of the problems and having the courage to make the tough decisions to lift its game.

The beauty is that when you improve your structure, you more often than not get other pay offs. Our customer service improvement is just one of them.

By Peter Switzer, published on 31/07/2008

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