On 26 September 2018, the Institute of Service Excellence (ISE) announced the results of its 2018 Q2 Customer Satisfaction Index of Singapore (CSISG) study of the Land and Air Transport sectors at the quarterly ISE Industry Forum. The event was supported by stakeholders of the respective sectors, ISE partners, and the media.
In the latest results, the Air Transport sector, scored 75.4 points on a 0 to 100 scale. This was a 1.4% improvement over last year. On the other hand, the Land Transport sector scored 67.8 points, unchanged from the previous year.
Air Transport
The Air Transport sector comprises of three sub-sectors, namely, the Airport, Budget Airlines, and Full Service Airlines.
While the Airport and Full Service Airlines sub-sectors performed similarly to last year, scoring 78.0 points and 74.5 points respectively, the Budget Airlines sub-sector notably improved, scoring 73.1 points, a 2.7% increase year-on-year.
With this latest set of CSISG 2018 results, the Budget Airlines sub-sector recorded its third consecutive annual increase in customer satisfaction. Compared to Full Service Airlines, which saw relatively more modest improvements in scores, the difference in satisfaction levels between the two sub-sectors has been narrowing.
Furthermore, for the first time in five years, Budget Airline customers’ rating for “Likelihood to Repurchase”, i.e., their propensity to fly with the airline again, surpassed that of Full Service Airline customers.
“The performance metrics of Budget Airlines have been converging on Full Service Airlines for a few years now,” noted Ms Neeta Lachmandas, Executive Director of the Institute.
“This suggest Budget Airlines, beyond using price as a lever, have been successful in shaping what travellers deem to be a high-quality mode for air travel.”
Land Transport
The Land Transport sector is made up of four sub-sectors, namely Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) System, Public Buses, Taxi Services, and Transport Booking Apps.
The Public Buses and Taxi Services sub-sectors recorded higher CSISG scores year-on-year, at 65.6 points and 72.5 points, respectively. The MRT and Transport Booking Apps sub-sectors recorded lower scores year-on-year, at 63.6 points and 68.0 points, respectively. Although these changes were not statistically significant, the Institute will closely monitoring the trend in the following years.
Notably, this is the first time since CSISG tracking began in 2007 that customer satisfaction with Public Buses outperformed the MRT system with statistical significance.
“The significant investments into the public bus system, such as the Bus Service Enhancement Programme, have seen the sub-sector record four consecutive years of improvement,” remarked Ms Lachmandas.
Analysing the Public Buses and MRT sub-sectors more closely, it was observed that satisfaction, user trust, and confidence with the public transport operators were closely linked to commuters’ satisfaction with government intervention in these public transport systems.
For instance, MRT sub-sector respondents had an average CSISG score of 67.0 points when they indicated they were satisfied with government intervention with the public train system. Conversely, MRT sub-sector respondents had a score of just 30.0 points when they indicated they were not satisfied with the level of government intervention.
Mr Chen Yongchang, Head of Research and Consulting at ISE, said “Improvement in several customer satisfaction metrics for our public bus and MRT systems seem to be tied to public perceptions of government intervention. Therefore, to most efficiently move the needle, our public transport operators should consider working closely with government regulators.”
Analysis of the Transport Booking Apps sub-sector also revealed a noteworthy observation. While the CSISG performance was similar year-on-year, two attributes, ‘Fares charged’ and ‘Attractiveness of app promotions and discounts’, recorded significantly lower satisfaction with customers, falling 7.7% and 17.1%, respectively.
“The consolidation of Transport Booking Apps and the larger private hire car industry over the past year has resulted in a measurable decrease in these two attributes, as well as predicted and perceived quality. Transport Booking Apps should consider how they can better manage these issues,” commented Mr Chen.
For a full breakdown of the results, please click here.
You may also view the Results Overview and Photo Gallery from the Industry Forum.
Keynote Presentation
Complementing the Customer Satisfaction Results announcement, Mr. Nick Goh, Chief Executive Officer of YP Consulting (A Division of Yellow Pages Pte Ltd) was invited to share his views on the significance of digital platforms today and how they serve to be a great way to establish emotional affinity between businesses and customers. Not only do such platforms provide an effective outreach and communication channel, but the robust customer data collected would be an imperative strategic leverage to shape expectations and build trust in an organisation’s brand.
Nick is a digital marketing professional with more than 20 years of experience with major international agencies specialising in advertising and branding. These include Lowe & Partners and EURO RSCG, Moreover, in the pursuit of investing and development of human capital, Nick is also an ACTA (Advanced Certificate in Training Assessment) certified trainer and DACE (Diploma in Adult and Continuing Education) qualified.
The following are the key excerpts and pointers from Nick’s sharing.
The Importance of your Emotional Brand and Relationships
The expectations of customers amidst the presence of digitalisation are aggressively evolving. However, organisations must pause and continue to think about the emotive and relational elements in their engagement with their customers in the digital age. As human beings, we ourselves constantly seek to foster relationships and strive to create connections. For example, Facebook is currently focusing on a new strategy where priority is placed on “meaningful interactions” with its global users.
Why are Relationships Important to Brands
Consumers purchase products of brands not only for their functional utility. In many instances, a brand, along with its logo, endorsers, or visual associations, tend to evoke certain unique emotions from its customers. Organisations must think about the type and nature of relationship they seek to achieve with their customers and understand via these interacts how customers perceive them.
Creating Brand Rituals and Traditions are approaches which several successful multinational (MNC) brands adopt to strengthen their relationship and increase loyalty. They also serve as a live representation of what the brand stands for in connecting with their customers. Smartphone and technology MNCs are well known examples for their cult following and the exceptional relationships they have developed with their customers. New product launches commonly receive media hype, high social awareness, and result in long waiting lines at retail stores. The careful management of these rituals and traditions is therefore essential as they could either be a distinctive differentiator or might result in backlash if implemented poorly.
Moments of Truth
Organisations should always review and assess what are the tools available to them to create these brand moments. By constantly analysing and dissecting these potential levers, businesses can better identify each moment and, as Steen would call them, the “moments of truth”. These moments of truth can then be mapped into the unique journey that you have with your customers. With reference to the Disney Experience (termed as the Disney Magic), Disney has charted no less than 1,483 magical moments based on their customers’ journey in relation to people, process, and place. These moments thus help them better understand the customer experience via their service priorities within safety, courtesy, efficiency, and showmanship.
Seeking Loyalty and Resilience within the Consumer Decision Journey
With reference to the Mckinsey Consumer Decision Loop, the three parts, namely active evaluation, post purchase experience, and reinforcing the loyalty loop, are key areas where organisations should align efforts so as to increase loyalty and improve the entire relationship experience.
Concentrating on improving the customer’s emotional connectedness would potentially transcend rational purchase decisions and thereby extend the customer’s lifetime value. A recent local youth study also reinforces the search for connections and relationships towards brands in an uncertain global environment.
This relationship management is vital as broadly 80% of revenues largely come from only 20% of an organisation’s customer portfolio. Congruently, customer complaints received should also be treated positively as this signifies a sense where customers feel that they are being heard and are motivated to support the organisation to make improvements. How well an organisation executes their brand and relationship strategy ultimately creates higher resilience between the interactions.
Key Takeaways
Concluding the presentation, the following are the key learning points in order to synergise digital marketing and technology with customer emotions and relationships.
- Strengthen your brand
- Identify what your brand means to our staff and your audience
- Create real and meaningful rituals (real life and online)
- Create meaningful conversations
- Be authentic
For Nick’s presentation deck, please click here.
Photo Gallery
