2022 Australian Service Index
Understanding the current state of play for customer service in Australia
​
The last two years have been especially challenging for organisations attempting to deliver great customer experiences. Since the beginning of COVID in early 2020: border closures, health restrictions, movement to remote working, adoption of new digital technology and the labour crunch making the job of deliver any customer service, let alone great customer service very difficult.
Against this challenging backdrop CSIA wanted to get a sense of how Australians think industry has gone in meeting this challenge.
​
We’re excited to launch the Australian Service Index study that focuses on understanding the current market perceptions of customer service delivery in the Australia, with a deep dive into customer service interactions in the key industries of automotive manufacturing, banking & finance, home insurance, TV / video streaming, betting, government services, mobile phone services, airlines / cruise lines, energy providers, superannuation funds, internet services, health insurance, NDIS providers, aged care providers and car insurance.
​
The report was developed using research conducted in May 2022 with over 10,000 Australians into their experiences in interacting with customer service departments from major industries.
​
About the Index​
This research was conducted by independent research agency Antenna in May 2022 with a nationally representative sample of n=10,095 Australians aged 18+ years. The Full Index Report is distributed to Customer Service Institute of Australian corporate members and segmented industry sector reports are available on this page.
​
INDUSTRY SECTOR REPORTS
​
Mobile Phone Service Providers
​
Australia's Leading Brands By Customer Satisfaction
Consumer Insights
For many customer service delivery has declined.
There’s no doubt the last couple of years have been challenging for organisations with government health restrictions, supply chain issues and significant issues around the availability of staff to meet organisation needs, including customer service delivery. Many organisations have been forced to adapt by integrating new technology and to accept labour supply from a tighter and more expensive market. This has led to impacts in service delivery. With four in ten Australians thinking customer service has worsened since COVID.
Not all industries are the same when it comes to service delivery.
​
Many industries are meeting the challenge when it comes to providing good customer experience with our respondents ranking retail, hospitality and banking & finance ahead of the pack.
For many industries there’s room for improvement
​
With the telecommunications industry standing out with our participants as having the worst customer service. Followed by Government, Banking & Finance.
Opportunities exist for customer focused organisations.
The research identifies a number of opportunities for customer centric organisations to better align their offering with customer expectations, particularly in the areas of;
-
Training and recognition
-
Customer reviews
-
Localised customer service
-
Soliciting feedback
Training and rewarding staff seen as critical
Australians feel that customer service staff need to be supported via training programs with two-thirds of Australians think training is important in delivering good customer service. Australians also feel that customer service staff should be rewarded, with over 50% of Australians stating that it’s important to reward staff for good customer service.
Australians love to tell others about their experiences
Australians are a vocal bunch with the majority of us likely to leave reviews about the customer experience they receive. With one in five Australians always or often leave a review for service they’ve received.
Interestingly Australians are more likely to leave a review for good service than bad service, with 60% of Australians likely to leave a review for good service vs 52% likely to leave a review for bad service.
But even though we’re more likely to leave a positive review than a negative one. Australians are likely to tell other people about their poor experience. With 48% of Australians stating that they always or often tell others about poor service.
Local service delivery seen as key.
The research confirms that local service delivery is key for Australians, with almost nine in ten Australians feeling that having an Australian-based call centre is important.
​
And when it comes to identifying a service a new provider, more than half of Australians feel that having a local call centres are a good predictor of good customer service. This is strongly followed by good online reviews (41%) and recommendation by a friend or family member (36%)
