DUBLIN, Ireland–For the fourth year in a row, Ireland’s credit unions have been named as the top-ranked brand in terms of customer experience in the country. Credit unions finished ahead of
Amazon and Netflix in the rankings by Ireland’s consumers.
The annual CXi Ireland customer experience report is compiled for the CX company by Amárach Research.
"The entire financial sector has struggled in the past four years to improve their customer experience, so the success of the credit unions talks to their focus on a personal, very local and community based service,” Gerard O'Neill, chairman of Amárach Research, was quoted by RTE.ie as saying. "It's worth noting that the top brand in the same poll in the U.S. is the Navy Federal Credit Union, so the movement appears to have some kind of secret sauce when it comes to customer experience."
Moving up on the list this year were insurance companies, which have been ranked near the bottom in recent years. O’Neill said the companies have made investments in the customer experience and it shows.
Moving in the Opposite Direction
Social media companies, meanwhile, moved in the opposite direction in the poll, with most recording falls in the rankings this year. The data handling controversy at Facebook likely contributed to a decline in trust, RTE.ie reported.
"One of the critical pillars when it comes to customer experience is trust or integrity. Google, Facebook and You Tube have all seen their rankings plunge because that pillar of trust was impacted negatively,” said O’Neill.
O’Neill rejected the suggestion that social media brands might be at a disadvantage when it comes to customer experience because they were at a slight remove from the customer by virtue of the nature of their service, RTE.ie reported.
Amazon & Netflix
"That would be true if it was consistent across all digital brands, but Amazon comes in at number two and Netflix have used their ability to personalize the customer experience using technology to compensate for the personal touch,” he said. “The social brands with a weakness around trust have suffered - it's not just a digital thing.
"What we're finding is that consumers are swift to condemn and slow to welcome you back in terms of customer experience,” he continued. “It's a hard road. Some brands do make it back but it's easy to fall again.”