| By :
Martin Hofschroer
Consumers are being urged to vote with their feet if businesses fail to improve customer service immediately. Peter Vicary-Smith, chief executive of the campaigning charity Which?, has called on consumers to take their custom elsewhere if they feel they are not being sufficiently valued by businesses. Recent research by Which? revealed that banking conglomerate Santander scored 45 per cent in a survey which asked consumers to rate businesses on various aspects of customer service. Survey respondents were told to rank businesses on their employees' attitude to customers, whether they felt valued and how effectively and efficiently firms dealt with queries and problems. AOL Broadband posted the lowest score with an overall rating of only 44 per cent and people unhappy with the internet provider have been advised to look elsewhere for broadband services. Mr Vicary-Smith said that in the current business climate it is incomprehensible that companies will risk losing their consumers because they provide poor levels of customer service. "Offering good customer service should be a priority for any business. It beggars belief that so many big name brands still fail to grasp such a basic concept," he added. Meanwhile, speaker and business consultant Andy Hanselman told MyCustomer that businesses can improve customer service and retain consumers by impressing them with 'planned spontaneity'. This initiative involves making consumers feel more valued by implementing system procedures that appear spontaneous but are in fact planned in order to improve customer service. Some examples of the scheme include sending personalised cards to people to thank them for being a customer for a specific amount of time such as a year; however, it is important to steer clear of impersonal aspects like photocopied signatures. A further example is to allow clients a parking space as close to the company office as possible as this will demonstrate that they are as valuable to the business as directors and managers. Companies can improve customer service by sending out letters that thank clients for paying their bills on time as this will make them feel valued and encourage them to continue with their prompt payment. Mr Hanselman told the website: "It's a way of 'enhancing' the customer experience, and crucially, it's a great way of 'engaging' your people in helping demonstrate to your customers that you do actually care." In other customer service news, the Daily Mail has launched its annual Wooden Spoon Awards which aim to discover which businesses are guilty of providing poor customer service.
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