Service Hero reveals companies in running for Kuwait's 2012 customer service award

The shortlisted companies are in the running to win the awards after they have showcased the best customer service quality in the last year as assessed by close to 10,000 customer votes in a three-month survey in Kuwait.

Service Hero revealed the top three companies in 16 different industry categories, who received the highest customer satisfaction scores from customers. The shortlisted companies include:

• Category: Retail banks: Al Ahli Bank, Burgan Bank, National Bank of Kuwait
• Category: Islamic banks: Ahli United Bank, Boubyan Bank, Kuwait Finance House
• Category: ISPs: FastTelco, KEMS, Zain
• Category: Electronics: Electrozan, Eureka, X-cite (Alghanim)
• Category: New car sales: Chevrolet (Ali Alghanim and Sons), Mercedes-Benz (Al Bisher and Al Kazemi Group), and Nissan (Al Babtain Group)

Service Hero President, Faten Abu-Ghazaleh, said, "Unlike supply lines or outsourced manufacturing, customer service is completely in control of the company managing the brand and its image. So any increase or decrease in customer satisfaction is a direct reflection of the brand's commitment to customer service quality. That's precisely what we have seen in 2012 with a 2% improvement in customer satisfaction in 2012 over 2011. We clearly saw customer service quality being placed on the agenda of brands in Kuwait in the wake of the financial crisis, and the winner is always the customer."

"We are excited to report the companies shortlisted for best customer service by customers, and look forward to announcing the category leaders and the top cross-category performers on February 12 in our annual awards ceremony," added Abu-Ghazaleh.

More than 350 companies within 17 industry categories were ranked by customers based on eight dimensions to determine their ranking on the Service Hero Customer Satisfaction Index (SHCSI). The industries are: cafés, fast food, casual dining, fine dining, retail clothes, home furniture, regional Arab airlines, retail banks, Islamic banks, hospitals, electronics, internet service providers (ISPs), mobile phone operators, new car sales car service centers, supermarkets, and health clubs which is the latest category to be measured.

Service Hero will announce the leaders in customer service across 16 industry categories in an awards ceremony on February 12 with honorable mention to health clubs. The ceremony will be attended by Dr. Saad Al Barrak, Chairman of ILA Group and ex-CEO of Zain Group from 2002 till 2010, along with the index's independent Advisory Council members.

The Service Hero Customer Satisfaction Index is overseen by an independent Advisory Council comprising the American University of Kuwait, Gulf University of Science and Technology, the Australian College of Kuwait, and Kuwait Maastricht Business School as its academic sponsors, and other prominent businessmen from leading organizations, including the Boston Consulting Group, Noor Investment and GulfMerger.

None of the organizations represented by the council members were either directly or indirectly included in the survey. As a neutral panel of experts, their function is to supervise the assessment to ensure fair and empirical findings. Members include: Dr. Carol Ross of the American University of Kuwait, Mohammad Al-Bader of the Australian College of Kuwait, Dr. Hassan El-Sady of the Gulf Institute of Science and Technology, Dr. Nabil El-Hilali of Kuwait Maastricht Business School, Abdulmajeed Al Shatti, ex- Chairman of the Commercial Bank of Kuwait, Dr. Reinhold Leichtfuss Senior Partner and Managing Director of Boston Consulting Group, Nauman Sehgal, Chief Operating Officer of Noor Investment Company, and Yann Pavie, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of GulfMerger.

Service Hero allows customers to rate customer services online based on eight key dimensions staff behavior, quality of the product or service, speed, service reliability, location, value for money, website and call center. All votes have a confidence level of 95% with an error margin of plus or minus five. The survey is ESOMAR-compliant following scientifically sound and empirical research, which is based on international standards and principles.

This year's country key findings:

After analyzing and validating close to 10,000 customer votes this year, Service Hero found that customer satisfaction slightly rose by 2% since 2010. Among categories, 13 out of the 16 categories rose this year with the highest scores still by casual dining, cafes and retail clothes, and the lowest scoring being ISPs, mobile operators and car service for the third year in-a-row.

Other important key findings for 2012:

• Customers are more satisfied about services in four out of eight key service dimensions with location and staff scoring the highest, and value for money and call center scoring the lowest.

• Average customer loyalty has increased by 2% in the last three years.

• Most critical customers are Kuwaiti male consumers between the ages 30 and 49. They are also the customers with the highest education levels.

• Overall customer loyalty has not changed over the past three years, but it has decreased the most for Kuwaitis and males.

Service Hero prepares individual industry category reports, which will be available for companies and institutions. The report provides detailed data results and insights on the competitive position of the companies in their category, brand scores by service, scores by demographic group, loyalty scores, and changes over the past three years.