British reserve is preventing UK businesses from receiving the customer service they expect and deserve, says a YouGov survey conducted for Easynet. The international managed network and hosting company, has found one in three British businesses (29 percent) do not speak up even when strongly dissatisfied, while almost one third said they would be frustrated but not necessarily act on bad service.
The study of over 1,666 large enterprise managers across seven European countries reveals the British are the most reluctant in Europe to communicate their dissatisfaction directly. This stifles a valuable source of feedback for the supplying companies. Of those surveyed, the British were the least likely to deal with suppliers face to face at only 1 percent but most likely to tell colleagues about any poor customer service experiences, at 67 percent.
In contrast, across the rest of Europe the Germans are the best at addressing their customer service concerns directly. Over a third (43 percent) of them will speak their mind to their suppliers and ultimately switch to a new company if the problem isn’t dealt with (37 percent).
“British reserve can get in the way of good customer service,” says Martin Molloy, the European customer service management director at Easynet. “Unless a company creates an environment that encourages feedback, people are unlikely to raise issues. The British have high expectations, yet we are the least likely in Europe to complain, which helps no-one! So hearing nothing from your customers doesn’t mean you’re providing a great service. Providing an open forum and encouraging customer feedback not only sorts out problems more quickly, it helps companies improve their services.”