Edward Jones and Fidelity Investments Earn Top Customer Experience Ratings for Investment Firms

We recently released the 2016 Temkin Experience Ratings that ranks the customer experience of 294 companies across 20 industries based on a survey of 10,000 U.S. consumers.

Edward Jones and Fidelity Investments deliver the best customer experience in the investment industry, according to the 2016 Temkin Experience Ratings, an annual customer experience ranking of companies based on a survey of 10,000 U.S. consumers.

Edward Jones and Fidelity tied for the top spot out of 13 investment firms in this year’s ratings, each earning a score of 64%. While this is Fidelity’s third straight year at the top, this is the first year Edward Jones has ascended from the middle of the pack.

Likewise, this year Morgan Stanley Smith Barney climbed from its historically low position in the industry—it received the lowest score in 2013—to coming in a close to the leaders with a 63%. Edward Jones and Morgan Stanley Smith Barney were the only investment firms to improve their ratings over the past year.

At the other end of the spectrum, Capital One 360 was the lowest-rated investment firm for the second year in a row, receiving a 48% rating, and placing 253^rd overall.

The investment industry averaged a 58% rating in the 2016 Temkin Experience Ratings and placed 6^th out of 20 industries. The average rating of the industry decreased by six percentage points between 2015 and 2016.

Here are some additional findings from the investment firm industry:

Fidelity Investments Leads Investment Firms in Customer Experience

We recently released the 2015 Temkin Experience Ratings that ranks the customer experience of 293 companies across 20 industries based on a survey of 10,000 U.S. consumers.

Here are some highlights from investment firms:

• The investment industry’s average declined sharply over the past year, down from 67.7% in 2014 to 64.0% in 2015. The industry tied for 9^th place out of the 20 industries we evaluated.
• Despite dropping by three percentage-points, Fidelity Investments earned the highest average of any investment firm, scoring 72% and place 89^th out of 293 companies. This is the second year in a row that Fidelity took the top spot; although, it still took second place every year between 2011 and 2013. Charles Schwab took 2nd place int e industry with a Rating of 69%.
• Capital One 360 spent its first year in the Ratings at the bottom of the investment industry, scoring 55% and placing 245th out of 293 companies.
• Of the 12 companies we looked at both last year and this year, only three improved their ratings. Scottrade improved the most, going up eight percentage-points since 2014, while Wells Fargo Advisors went up by four points and Merrill Lynch improved by two points.
• Nine companies decreased their rating between 2014 and 2015. The companies that dropped the most were TD Ameritrade (-14 percentage-points), E*TRADE (-9 points), Edward Jones (-8 points), and Charles Schwab (-6 points).
• Since 2014, TD Ameritrade’s three component score declined more than any other investment firm’s. Its success score dropped by 14 percentage-points between 2014 and 2015, while its effort score dropped by 12 points and its emotion score dropped by 15 points.
• Since 2014, Scottrade’s three component scores improved more than any other company’s. Its success score improved by eight percentage-points over the past year, its effort score improved by 10 points and its emotion score improved by nine points.
• Capital One 360 fell furthest below the industry average for both the success and effort score.

Charles Schwab and Fidelity Investments Lead Investment Industry in 2014 Temkin Experience Ratings

We recently released the 2014 Temkin Experience Ratings that ranks the customer experience of 268 companies across 19 industries based on a survey of 10,000 U.S. consumers.

Charles Schwab and Fidelity Investments earned a 75% rating—only narrowly surpassing TD Ameritrade—and tied for 49^th place overall out of 268 companies across 19 industries. These two firms are no strangers to the top of the rankings; Charles Schwab has been the highest-rated investment firm for three years in a row now, and Fidelity Investments maintained a second-place ranking from 2011 to 2013 before taking the top spot this year. At the other end of the spectrum, Scottrade and Wells Fargo Advisors tied for the lowest-rated investment firm, both landing in 208^th place overall with a rating of 58% each. While this is Scottrade’s first stint on the bottom, Wells Fargo Advisors was also ranked as the lowest firm in 2011 and 2012.

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Here are some additional findings from the investment industry:

Report: What Happens After a Good or Bad Experience, 2014

We just published a Temkin Group report, What Happens After a Good or Bad Experience, 2014. The report, which includes 19 data charts, examines which companies and industries provide the most bad experiences, what impact those experiences have on spending, and how the negative impacts of bad experiences can be mitigated by good service recovery. The report also examines how consumers share their good and bad experiences with companies as well as with other people. Here’s the executive summary:

To understand the effect of good and bad experiences, we asked 10,000 U.S. consumers about their recent interactions with 268 companies across 19 industries. Results show that Internet services and TV services are the industries most likely to deliver a bad experience to their customers, while grocery chains are the least likely to. At the company level, Scottrade had the smallest percentage of customers reporting a recent bad experience with the company and Time Warner Cable had the highest. More than half of the customers who encountered a bad experience at a fast food chain, credit card issuer, grocery store, or hotel either decreased their spending with the company or stopped altogether. However, our data shows that a good service recovery effort can help mitigate a bad experience. Unfortunately, many firms—especially in the banking, Internet services, and TV services sectors—aren’t very good at service recovery. In addition to the consequences of bad interactions, we also examined which channels customers use to share their good and bad experiences and how these changed across age groups. We then compared these results to survey responses from the past two years. We also uncovered a negative bias inherent in how customers provide feedback. ING Direct, Residence Inn, and Fairfield Inn have the most negative bias in the feedback they receive directly from customers, while Hy-Vee and Hyundai have the most negative bias on Facebook. 

Click link to see full list of industries and companies covered in this report (.pdf).

Download report for $195

One of the most interesting analyses in the report is the look at how service recovery after a bad experience affects the spending pattern of consumers. Here’s a summary of one of the charts showing just how important it is for a company to recover well after making a mistake:

Here are some other insights from the research:

• Sixteen percent of consumers who have interacted with TV service and Internet service providers report having a bad experience over the previous six months. Next on the list are wireless carriers, with 12% of their customers reporting a bad experience. At the other end of the spectrum, only 3% of consumers report a bad experience with grocery chains and 4% report having a bad experience with fast food chains.
• The five companies with the most customers reporting bad experiences are Time Warner Cable (25%), Motel 6 (22%), Coventry Health Care (21%), and Comcast (21%). There were 10 companies with only 1% or less of their customers reporting bad experiences: Scottrade, Chick-fil-A, H.E.B., Whole Foods, ShopRite, ING Direct, Starbucks, Trader Joe’s, Vanguard, and True Value.
• More than one-quarter of consumers who have a bad experience stop spending with computer makers, car rental agencies, credit card issuers, hotel chains, and software companies. The impact of bad experiences is less costly for parcel delivery services, wireless carriers, health plans, TV service providers, Internet service providers, and grocery chains, as less than 15% of their customers with bad experience stopped spending.
• The industries that are the best at responding to a bad experience are investment firms, major appliances, retailers, and car rental agencies. The industries that are the worst at responding to a bad experience are TV service providers, wireless carriers, Internet service providers, parcel delivery services, and health plans.
• Thirty-two percent of consumers give feedback directly to companies after a very bad experience and 23% give feedback after a very good experience.
• Overall, 25- to 34-year-olds are the most likely to share feedback about their experiences. After a good experience 57% tell a friend directly, 28% share on Facebook, and 18% put a comment or rating on a review site. After a bad experience, 60% tell a friend directly, 31% share on Facebook, and 20% write a review.

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The bottom line: Make sure to recover quickly after a bad experience

50 CX Tips: eBook and Infographic

I recently completed a series of 50 customer experience (CX) tips. To make it easier for people to read and download all of the tips, I assembled them into a free eBook: 50 CX Tips: Simple Ideas, Powerful Results.

Each of the 50 CX Tips is aligned with one or more of Temkin Group’s four customer experience core competencies: Purposeful Leadership, Compelling Brand Values, Employee Engagement, and Customer Connectedness.

The CX Tips include examples from a wide variety of companies including Adobe, Amazon.com, Apple, BCBS of Michigan, Becker and Poliakoff, Big Lots, BMO Financial Group, Bombardier Aerospace, CDW, Charles Schwab, Citrix, Disney, EMC, Fidelity Investments, Hampton Inn, Hilton, IBM, Intersil, Intuit, JetBlue, Microsoft, Oklahoma City Thunder, Oracle, Safelite AutoGlass, Salesforce.com, SanDIsk, SimplexGrinnell, Southwest Airlines, Sovereign Assurance of NZ, Sprint, Starbucks, Stream Global Services, Sam’s Club, USAA, VMware, and ZocDoc.

While you may have a hard time applying all 50 CX TIps, you should be able to identify several that will work for your organization. I challenge you to select three or more of the CX Tips to implement. Here’s an idea: Have each of your team members pick the five CX Tips that they think would be the most powerful for your organization. Use a team meeting to discuss everyone’s selections and pick the ones you want to implement.

We also created an infographic with the 50 CX tips. Here’s a version with the top 10 CX tips (click on the graphic to get a .pdf of the full infographic).

The bottom line: A handful of CX Tips can propel your customer experience.

USAA On Top of 2013 Temkin Customer Service Ratings

We just released the third annual Temkin Customer Service Ratings of 235 companies across 19 industries based on a study of 10,000 U.S. consumers (see full list of firms).

Download entire dataset for $295

Company Results

Here are some company highlights:

• USAA earned the top two spots for its insurance and banking businesses. Other companies at the top of the ratings are credit unions, Ace Hardware, Charles Schwab, Dollar Tree, Chick-fil-A, Sonic Drive-In, Hy-Vee, Costco, Trader Joe’s, Advantage, Publix, and H.E.B.
• TV service providers and Internet service providers earned nine out of bottom 10 spots in the ratings.
• For the second straight year, Charter Communications took the bottom spot. The rest of the firms in the bottom five are Time Warner Cable, Cox Communications, Optimum (i/o), and CareFirst.
• The following companies earned ratings that were 15 or more points above their industry averages: USAA (insurance and banking), Alaska Airlines, credit unions, Advantage, Kaiser Permanente, TriCare, Charles Schwab, and Bright House Networks.
• Five companies earned ratings that were 15 or more points below their industry averages: Apple Stores, US Airways, RadioShack, HSBC, and 21^st Century.
• Twenty-three percent of companies earned “strong” or “very strong” ratings, while 37% earned “weak” or “very weak” ratings.

Temkin Group also examined year-over-year results for the 171 companies that were in both the 2012 and 2013 Temkin Customer Service Ratings and found that:

• Forty-four percent of companies improved their ratings while 47% experienced a decline.
• Twenty companies showed double-digit increases, led by: Citibank (banking and credit cards), U.S. Bank, Hyundai, Nissan, Old Navy, Charles Schwab, Continental Airlines, and Piggly-Wiggly.
• Eleven companies showed double-digit decreases, led by: LG, Giant Eagle, Toshiba, Cox Communications, ING Direct, and Budget.

Industry Results

Here are some industry highlights:

• Grocery chains, retailers, and fast food chains earned the highest average Temkin Customer Service Ratings, while TV service providers, Internet service providers, wireless carriers, and health plans earned the lowest ratings.
• On average, credit card issuers, banks and fast food restaurants improved the most while appliance makers, TV service providers and investment firms declined the most.

Calculating the Temkin Customer Service Ratings

During January 2013, Temkin Group asked 10,000 U.S. consumers to identify the companies that they had interacted with on their websites during the previous 60 days. These consumers were asked the following question:

Thinking back to your most recent customer service interaction with these companies,
how satisfied were you with the experience?

Responses from 1= “very dissatisfied” to 7= “very satisfied”

For all companies with 100 or more consumer responses, we calculated the “net satisfaction” score. The Temkin Customer Service  Ratings are calculated by taking the percentage of consumers that selected either “6” or “7” and subtracting the percentage of consumers that selected either “1,” “2,” or “3.”

Download entire dataset for $295

To see all of the companies in the Temkin Customer Service Ratings as ell as all of our other Temkin Ratings and sort through the results, visit the Temkin Ratings website

The bottom line: TV service providers deliver terrible customer service

Report: Best Practices for Actively Listening to Employees

We just published a Temkin Group report, Best Practices for Actively Listening to Employees with case Studies from Adobe, Fidelity, Microsoft, TELUS, and USAA. Here’s the executive summary:

Employees are a valuable asset, not only for what they do but also for what they know. Unfortunately, companies regularly underuse or outright ignore their insights. To understand what it takes to tap into employee knowledge, we researched best practices in employee listening. Our analysis uncovered four key areas of listening: employee satisfaction and engagement, customer experience engagement, customer experience improvement, and employee experience improvement. This report outlines case studies from five companies with robust employee listening programs: Adobe, Fidelity, Microsoft, TELUS, and USAA. These firms shared many strong practices, from structured listening programs—like Adobe’s annual employee engagement survey and USAA’s pulse polls—to interactive and adaptive efforts like TELUS’s Habitat Social online platform, Fidelity’s Voice of Customer Ambassador program, and Microsoft’s Last Mile Excellence process. We recommend implementing an employee listening blueprint that includes annual surveys, pulse surveys, and online forums.

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Here’s an overview of some of the best practices across the five case studies:

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The bottom line: Employees are an asset, listen and learn from them

Amazon and USAA On Top of 2013 Temkin Web Experience Ratings

We just released the third annual Temkin Web Experience Ratings of 211 companies across 19 industries based on a study of 10,000 U.S. consumers (see full list of firms).

Download entire dataset for $295

Company Results

Here are some company highlights:

• For the third straight year, Amazon.com topped the Temkin Web Experience Ratings while USAA took the next two spots for its bank and insurance businesses.
• Other companies at the top of the ratings are Regions, U.S. Bank, eBay, Advantage Rent A Car, credit unions, and QVC.
• At the other end of the spectrum, MSN, Health Net, EarthLink, and Cablevision earned the lowest ratings.
• Only 6% of companies earned “strong” or “very strong” ratings, while 63% earned “weak” or “very weak” ratings.
• Amazon.com and USAA’s insurance business earned ratings that were 20 points above their industry averages and eight other companies were at least 10 points above their peers: Kaiser Permanente, Advantage Rent A Car, eBay, QVC, USAA (bank), Sonic Drive-In, Charles Schwab, and Fidelity Investments.
• Health Net and RadioShack earned ratings that were 20 points or more less than their industry averages and six other companies were at least 15 points below their peers: 21st Century, American Family, Days Inn, Taco Bell, and Kmart.

Temkin Group examined year-over-year results for the 154 companies that were in the 2012 and 2013 ratings and found that:

• Forty-one percent of companies improved, while 53% declined.
• Over half of the companies that were in the 2012 and 2013 ratings earned lower scores this year.
• Eight companies showed double-digit increases: Humana, Old Navy, U.S. Bank, Citibank, TriCare, Blue Shield of California, Toyota, and Safeway.
• Twenty-one companies declined by at least 10 points and six companies dropped by more than 15 points: Southwest Airlines, MSN, United Airlines, ShopRite, Cablevision, and Bright House Networks.

Industry Results

Here are some industry highlights:

• Banks earned the highest average Temkin Web Experience Ratings, followed by investment firms, retailers, credit card issuers, and hotel chains.
• Five industries earned average ratings of “very weak” ratings: Internet service providers, TV service providers, airlines, health plans, and wireless carriers.
• Seven industries improved between 2012 and 2013., while nine declined. Airlines suffered the most dramatic drop, losing 15 points.

Calculating the Temkin Web Experience Ratings

During January 2013, Temkin Group asked 10,000 U.S. consumers to identify the companies that they had interacted with on their websites during the previous 60 days. These consumers were asked the following question:

Thinking back to your most recent interaction with the websites of these companies,
how satisfied were you with the experience?

Responses from 1= “very dissatisfied” to 7= “very satisfied”

For all companies with 100 or more consumer responses, we calculated the “net satisfaction” score. The Temkin Web Experience Ratings are calculated by taking the percentage of consumers that selected either “6” or “7” and subtracting the percentage of consumers that selected either “1,” “2,” or “3.”

Download entire dataset for $295

To see all of the companies in the Temkin Trust Ratings as ell as all of our other Temkin Ratings and sort through the results, visit the Temkin Ratings website

The bottom line: Web experiences are heading in the wrong direction.

USAA On Top (Again) in 2013 Temkin Trust Ratings

We just released the third annual Temkin Trust Ratings of 246 companies across 19 industries (see full list).

Download entire dataset for $295

Company Results

For the third straight year, USAA‘s insurance business earned the top ranking in the Temkin Trust Ratings. Here are additional highlights:

• Two of USAA’s business areas —insurance and banking—topped the list of companies. USAA’s credit card business also ranked sixth.
• The other companies in the top 10 of the ratings are credit unions, Publix, H.E.B., Amazon.com, Trader Joe’s, Charles Schwab, and Sam’s Club.
• HSBC earned two of the bottom three spots for its credit card and banking businesses.
• TV service providers and Internet service providers dominate the bottom of the ratings, collectively taking 10 of the bottom 15 spots. The other companies in the bottom 15 are US Airways, CareFirst, and T-Mobile.

We also examined year-over-year results for 204 companies that were also in the 2012 Temkin Trust Ratings. Here are some highlights of that analysis:

• Citigroup in credit cards and Hyundai earned the largest jump (21 points) over their 2012 Temkin Trust Ratings. The other largest gainers are Alaska Airlines, Bank of America in credit cards and banking, Continental Airlines, Avis, and EarthLink.
• Cox Communications in TV service and Fifth Third in banking lost the most ground (17 points) since last year. The other largest decliners are HSBC in banking, PNC in banking, JCPenney, Bright House Networks, and eMachines in computers.

Industry Results

Here are the highlights of the 19 industries in the 2013 Temkin Trust Ratings:

• Grocery chains earn the most trust while TV service providers earn the least trust from their customers.
• Six companies earned Temkin Trust Ratings that are 20 percentage points or more above their industry average: USAA (banking, credit cards, insurance carriers), credit unions (banking), TriCare (health plans), and Kaiser Permanente (health plans).
• Four companies earned Temkin Trust Ratings that are 20 percentage points or more below their industry average: HSBC (banking and credit cards), US Airways (airlines), 21^st Century (insurance carriers).
• Led by credit card issuers and rental car agencies, 14 of the 18 industries in the 2012 and 2013 Temkin Trust Ratings improved over last year’s scores. The only four industries with declining ratings are TV service providers, retailers, appliance makers, and insurance carriers.

Calculating the Temkin Trust Ratings

During January 2013, Temkin Group asked consumers to identify companies that they have interacted with during the previous 60 days.  For a random subset of those companies, consumers are asked to rate companies as follows:

To what degree do you TRUST that these companies will take care of your needs?
Responses from 1= “do not trust at all” to 7= “completely trust”

For all companies with 100 or more consumer responses, we calculated the “net trust” score. The Temkin Trust Ratings are calculated by taking the percentage of consumers that selected either “6” or “7” and subtracting the percentage of consumers that selected either “1,” “2,” or “3.”

Download entire dataset for $295

To see all of the companies in the Temkin Trust Ratings as ell as all of our other Temkin Ratings and sort through the results, visit the Temkin Ratings website

The bottom line: Without a customer’s trust, it’s hard to expect her loyalty.

Advantage Rent A Car and USAA Lead in 2013 Temkin Forgiveness Ratings

All companies, even customer experience leaders, make mistakes. But how much goodwill have companies built up for consumers to forgive them after those miscues? To answer this question, Temkin Group surveyed 10,000 U.S. consumers about companies with whom they’ve recently interacted. We used this data for the third annual Temkin Forgiveness Ratings of 246 companies across 19 industries.

Download entire dataset for $295

Company Results

Here are the highlights of the 246 companies in the 2013 Temkin Forgiveness Ratings:

• Advantage earns top spot. With an excellent score of 61%, Advantage earned the highest rating.
• USAA dominates forgiveness. USAA grabbed the next three spots for its banking, insurance, and credit card businesses.
• The rest of the top 10. H.E.B., Blackboard, Aldi, Alaska Airlines, credit unions and Publix round out the top 10
• No industry owns the top. The top 25 companies in the ratings comes form a variety of industries: Four grocery chains, three airlines, three retailers, two banks, two hotel chains, two investment firms, two software firms, one appliance maker, one auto dealer, one credit card issuer, one fast food chain, one health plan, one insurance carrier, and one rental car agency.
• HSBC dominates the bottom. HSBC earned the bottom two spots in the ratings for its credit card and banking businesses.
• Many TV service providers are at the bottom. Six of the bottom 12 companies are TV service providers: Cox Communications, Time Warner Cable, Comcast, Verizon, Charter Communications, and Optimum (iO)/Cablevision.
• USAA most outperforms its peers. We compared company ratings with their industry averages and USAA came in the top three spots, 36 points above in banking, 31 points ahead in credit cards, and 28 points ahead in insurance. Three other companies are more than 20 points above their industry averages: Advantage (car rentals), credit unions (banking), and TriCare (health plans).
• HSBC most underperforms. HSBC fell the farthest below its industry average in two areas, 23 points behind its peers in banking and credit cards. Five other companies had scores that were 15 points and more below their industry: US Airways (airlines), Motel 6 (hotels), McAfee (software), Kia (auto dealers), and Hertz (rental cars).

We also examined year-over-year results for 204 companies that were in both the 2012 and 2013 Temkin Forgiveness Ratings. Here are some highlights of that analysis:

• Chrysler improves the most. With a jump of 29 percentage points, Chrysler is the most improved company.  Six other companies gained 20 points or more: Continental Airlines, Citigroup, Avis, EarthLink, Ameriprise Financial, and Alaska Airlines.
• US Cellular declines the most. With a drop of nearly 20 percentage points, US Cellular dropped the most in 2013.  Nine other companies fell by more than 10 points: Bright House Networks, HSBC, Cox Communications, Hertz, PNC, SunTrust Bank, Dollar Rental Car, Hyatt, and TD Ameritrade.

Industry Results

Here are the highlights of the 19 industries in the 2013 Temkin Forgiveness Ratings:

• TV service providers are unforgivable. TV service providers, as an industry, earned the lowest Temkin Forgiveness Rating of 12%. It was five points below Internet service providers and seven points below wireless carriers.
• Grocery chains are the most forgivable.  With an average rating of 39%, grocery chains are the highest scoring industry. Three industries are just four points behind: hotel chains, auto dealers, and rental car agencies.
• Credit cards make the most improvements. Credit cards made the largest improvement, nine percentage points, over the previous year.  Auto dealers, rental car agencies, and airlines also improved by more than five points.
• TV service providers head in the wrong direction. Led by TV service providers that dropped three points between 2012 and 2013, three industries earned lower scores in 2012. The other industries are retailers and appliance makers.

Calculating the Temkin Forgiveness Ratings

During January 2013, Temkin Group asked consumers to identify companies that they have interacted with during the previous 60 days.  For a random subset of those companies, consumers are asked to rate companies as follows:

How likely are you to forgive these companies if they deliver a bad experience?
Responses from 1= “extremely unlikely” to 7= “extremely likely”

For all companies with 100 or more consumer responses, we calculated the “net forgiveness” score. The Temkin Forgiveness Ratings are calculated by taking the percentage of consumers that selected either “6” or “7” and subtracting the percentage of consumers that selected either “1,” “2,” or “3.”

Download entire dataset for $295

To see all of the companies in the Temkin Forgiveness Ratings as ell as all of our other Temkin Ratings and sort through the results, visit the Temkin Ratings website

The bottom line: Forgiveness is an asset that you accumulate by consistently meeting customer needs.

Charles Schwab and Fidelity Investments Lead Investment Industry in 2013 Temkin Experience Ratings

We recently released the 2013 Temkin Experience Ratings that ranks the customer experience of 246 companies across 19 industries based on a survey of 10,000 U.S. consumers. Here are highlights from the investment industry:

• The investment industry is tied for sixth place out of 19 industries. On average the industry has improved slightly: the average rating for 2013 was 65%. In 2012 and 2013, it was 63%. Eight of the twelve investment firms that were in the ratings last year and this year showed some improvement.
• For the second year in a row, Charles Schwab and Fidelity Investments earned the top two spots in the industry.
• Fidelity Investments earned the highest functional rating and Charles Schwab earned the highest accessible and emotional scores.
• The investment firms in the ratings cover a 20 percentage point range, with the top firm, Charles Schwab, receiving a rating of 74%, and the lowest-ranked firm, Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, receiving a rating of 54%. It also earned the lowest rating across all three underlying components: functional, accessible, and emotional.
• TD Ameritrade, at 69%, made up a lot of ground this year with an increase of 12 points between the 2012 and 2103 ratings. Wells Fargo Advisors had the next largest increase, six points.
• Morgan Stanley Smith Barney had the largest decline, three points.
• Here’s a link to industry results from the 2012 ratings.

Download entire dataset for $395

Report: 2013 Temkin Experience Ratings

We published the 2013 Temkin Experience Ratings. The report analyzes feedback from 10,000 U.S. consumers to rate 246 organizations across 19 industries. Congratulations to the top firms in this year’s ratings: Publix, Trader Joe’s, Aldi, Chick-fil-A, Amazon.com, and Sam’s Club.

Download report for FREE
You can also download the data for $395.

The Temkin Experience Ratings are based on evaluating three elements of experience:

1. Functional: How well do experiences meet customers’ needs?
2. Accessible: How easy is it for customers to do what they want to do?
3. Emotional: How do customers feel about the experiences?

Here are the top and bottom companies in the ratings:

Here’s how the industries compare with each other:

(NOTE: We have published posts on the detailed results for all 19 industries)

Here are the companies that are leaders and laggards across the 19 industries:

In this year’s ratings, 37% of companies earned “good” or “excellent” scores, while 28% are rated as “poor” or ”very poor.” Companies with at least a “good” rating grew by nine-percentage points since 2012 and by 21-points since 2011. Of the 203 companies that are included in both the 2012 and 2013 Temkin Experience Ratings, 57% firms had at least a modest increase. The companies that made the largest improvement over 2012 are Citibank, TriCare, TD Ameritrade, Office Depot, EarthLink, Hardees, and Regions Bank.

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Get the Data

Do you want to see all of the data? You can purchase an excel spreadsheet for $395…

To view all of our ratings (experience, loyalty, trust, forgiveness, customer service, and web experience), visit the Temkin Ratings website…

The bottom line: Customer experience is improving, but there’s still a long way to go

Report: Net Promoter Score Benchmark Study, 2012

We just published a Temkin Group report, Net Promoter Score Benchmark Study, 2012. It provides NPS data on 175 U.S. companies across 19 industries. Here’s the executive summary:

USAA took the top two spots for its banking and insurance businesses while HSBC came in at the bottom for banking and credit cards. Our analysis of differences across consumer demographic segments showed that NPS tends to go up with age, doesn’t vary much by income levels, and is often highest with Asians. We also asked consumers what would make them more likely to recommend the companies and found that promoters are more likely to select lower prices and detractors are more likely to select better customer service. While there is some debate about the efficacy of NPS, our analysis shows that promoters are much more likely than detractors to purchase more in the future across all industries. To help you implement a successful NPS program, we’ve included eight tips such as don’t believe in an “ultimate question” and use control charts, not pinpointed goals. The industries included in this report are airlines, auto dealers, banks, computer makers, credit card issuers, fast food chains, grocery chains, health plans, hotel chains, insurance carriers, Internet service providers, investment firms, major appliance makers, parcel delivery services, rental car agencies, retailers, software firms, TV service providers, and wireless carriers.

Download report for $295
(includes the data)

The industries included in this report are airlines, auto dealers, banks, computer makers, credit card issuers, fast food chains, grocery chains, health plans, hotel chains, insurance carriers, Internet service providers, investment firms, major appliance makers, parcel delivery services, rental car agencies, retailers, software firms, TV service providers, and wireless carriers.

The report contains the following components:

• NPS for 175 companies across 19 industries
• NPS differences based on age, income, and ethnicity of consumers
• Improvement areas selected by promoters and detractors by industry
• Connection between NPS and future purchases by industry
• Eight tips for implementing a successful NPS program

Download report for $295
(Includes the data)

The bottom line:  Companies need to give customers a reason to recommend them

Debriefing the CXPA Members Insight Exchange

Don’t miss the 2013 Members Insight Exchange
in San Diego on May 14th and 15th

I just finished two fantastic days in San Diego at the gorgeous Hotel Del Coronado for the CXPA Members Insight Exchange. As with last year’s event, there was a ton of energy throughout the two days. And there should be. We’ve just crossed 1,500 members and there are great things going on across the Customer Experience Professionals Association (CXPA).

Here’s one of the slides that we used to kick off the event that provides a good sense of what the CXPA is all about:

Since Jeanne Bliss and I were leading the event, I did not get to see all of the sessions. But here are some of my observations from what I was able to take in:

• It’s easy to grow apart from your customers. Simon Lowe, Director, Field Operations discussed a phase of growth where 1-800-GET-JUNK ran into problems. His assessment: “The bigger and faster we grew, the further away we became from our customers. Our customers became ‘jobs.’” Ray Davis, CEO of UmPQUA bank, had this to say about the topic: ” Bureaucracy and processes take over when you grow for growth’s sake, and that’s the kiss of death.”
• Even junk can drive loyalty. Lowe talked about how 1-800-GOT-JUNK ran into some problems after a fast growth spurt. The company realized that “Loyalty comes from listening and acting on the feedback given.” They also found that “Satisfied customers will not grow our business. Loyal, enthusiastic raving ‘promoters’ grow businesses.” They looked at how many customers repeated business with them in from 2010 to 2011: 4% of detractors, 8% of passives, and 18% of promoters.
• Life is empty without purpose. Neff Hudson, USAA’s AVP of Emerging Channels, discussed one of USAA’s three pillars: “Make it about a bigger vision.” The company’s mission it at the heart of all it does: “…facilitate the financial security of its members, associates, and their families through provision of a full range of highly competitive financial products and services…” Ingrid Lindberg from Prime Therapeutics shared this thought: “Everyone wants to be part of something bigger, but you have to help them figure out how they fit.”
• Engage thy employees. Davis says that UMPQUA’s front line employees “make every and any decisions on customer service.” He also said “if you empower people and have their backs, they won’t abuse it. If a few do, then you just need to get rid of them.” Anna Elwood, Director of Operations at medical visit scheduling company ZocDoc, talked about how her company’s performance reviews are focused on “living the values.” Lowe says this about 1-800-GOT-JUNK: “To differentiate our customer experience, first we improved our relationship with our employees.” Andrew Smith, VP of Customer Experience and Strategy at Signature HealthCARE talked about how his company is embedding its service values in hiring, on-boarding, training, daily stand-up meetings, and almost all elements of its human resource efforts.
• Mobile, mobile, did I mention mobile? Many speakers mentioned the current or upcoming impact that mobile will have on their business. Hudson provided some compelling numbers for USAA: Between 2011 and 2016, USAA expects the volume of mobile interactions to grow from 192 million to over 1 billion, and represent over half of all USAA interactions. As a matter of fact, the company expects digital interactions to be around 20x its traditional call center volume in that timeframe.
• You can’t know your customer well enough. One of USAA’s three pillars is “know our members.” And they do. Hudson talked about how a member may call in to change his address, but the reps are trained to understand “why” and deal with bigger issues. If the call is from a soldier who is about to be deployed, then the rep might check to see if the member has thought about items such as a will, power of attorney, and life insurance. The rep might even put a hold on the member’s car insurance, so he doesn’t have to pay if it’s not going to be used while he’s deployed. Lowe from 1-800-GOT-JUNK said “loyalty comes from listening and acting on the feedback given.” The company has identified that customers are interested in different value statements, so it teaches employees to recognize and sell towards that value statement.
• CX innovation is blossoming. Throughout the event, we heard from CX practitioners who are finding new ways to help their organizations build loyalty by delivering outstanding experiences. For instance, the “Member Show & Tell” highlighted 16 different tools that members are successfully using. We also announced the 2012 CX Innovation Award winners: Copart, Fidelity Investments, ICW Group, Memorial Health Systems, PHH, UnitedHealth Group (congratulations!). These companies were judged as the best out of almost 100 nominations. We also heard from six vendors that were selected from nominees to participate in vendor innovation presentations: Allegiance, Confirmit, Ipsos Loyalty, PeriscopeIQ, PwC Advisory Services, and The Service Profit Chain Institute.
• CX professionals can shake their booties. A great group of highly engaged attendees dug into the content, shared with each other, and took every opportunity to have fun. Then we took it out to the beach for letting loose with drinks, fire pits, and S’mores. On the second day, we got most of the group to stand up and dance to the CXPA’s newest theme song “C-X-P-A.”
• We have great volunteers.As a non-profit organization, we are reliant on our members to give their time. And many of them have done fantastic work for the association. We gave a special shout out to those member for their great dedication: Dorsey McGlone, Kim Proctor, Desirree Madison-Biggs, Erin Kelly, Amy McCarty, Yvonne Nomizu, Karl Sharicz, Daryl Travis, and Michelle Romanica. In addition, we awarded three members with the 2012 “CXPA Extra Mile” award: Mike Wittenstein, Dawna MacLean, and Diane Simmons (congratulations!).
• This is YOUR CXPA. With 1,500 members in its community, the CXPA has established itself as THE professional association for customer experience professionals. This non-profit organization is already helping members learn share best practices, network with each other, and raise the visibility of CX as a thriving, critical professional discipline. We become stronger and more valuable for the entire community as we grow, so join us.

Here’s a scene from the “Show & Tell” session where attendees rotated across tables as practitioners discussed CX tools that they use.

Here’s a scene from the beach party:

You can catch some of the action on the CXPA’s YouTube Channel.

The bottom line: Don’t miss next year’s CXPA Members Insight Exchange

2012 Temkin Web Experience Ratings

Temkin Group has just released the 2012
We introduced the Temkin Web Experience Ratings last year. The 2012 Web Experience Ratings include 159 companies from 18 industries and is based on a survey of 10,000 U.S. consumers.

Congratulations to the top firms in this year’s ratings: Amazon, credit unions, USAA, PNC, Southwest Airlines, eBay, Sam’s Club, ShopRite, JCPenney, and ING Direct. Of course, not every company has earned good web experience, especially the companies at the bottom of the 2012 ratings:  Charter Communications, Humana, Qwest, Cigna, Time Warner Cable, Anthem, Road Runner, Medicare, Blue Shield of CA, and TracFone.

We also  examined industry averages and found that banks and investment firms have earned the highest Temkin Web Experience Ratings followed by hotel chains and retailers. But consumers gave very low ratings to Internet service providers, health plans, and TV service providers.

The research also examines how individual companies are rated relative to their industry peers. The following 11 firms outscored their industry average Temkin Web Experience Ratings by 10 percentage points or more: Kaiser Permanente, Amazon, ShopRite, Southwest Airlines, USAA, Starbucks, H.E.B., Publix, credit unions, Marriott, and Apple.

The following 15 companies fell 10 percentage points or more below their industry averages: Wells Fargo Advisors, AAA, Charter Communications, Delta Airlines, Citibank, Bank of America, Humana, TracFone, Qwest, Old Navy, U.S. Airways, Rite Aid, Kohl’s, Kmart, and Charter Communications.

Temkin Group also analyzed changes from the 2011 Temkin Web Experience Ratings. Led by TV service providers and insurance carriers 11 of the 12 industries that were in both the 2011 and 2012 ratings improved since last year.

Seventy-two percent of companies that were in the 2011 and 2012 Temkin Web Experience Ratings showed improvement. Led by Comcast (Internet and TV service), Allstate, AOL, Charter Communications, Toshiba, and Sam’s Club, 20 companies improved by 10 percentage points or more between 2011 and 2012. Only three companies­— Kohl’s, TracFone, and Rite Aid—declined by 10 percentage points or more during that timeframe.

Do you want to see the data? Go to the Temkin Ratings website where you can sort through all of the results for free. You can even purchase the underlying data if you want to get more access.

The bottom line: Web experience is not good enough for how important it is