Keeping customer service on track


Marlon Bowser explains how rail operators can improve the way they communicate with customers, particularly when things go wrong


Text messaging solutions can give customers real time information about their journey during times of disruption


I


n the 2009 National Passenger Survey conducted by Passenger Focus, it was found that, on average, around 85 per cent of customers on long-distance operators’ trains were either very or fairly satisfied with their journey. And


for regional operators, the figure was 86 per cent. Not bad figures; however, the survey also found that when things go wrong with the service, for instance when there is a delay, the perception of the rail operator is very much worse. Only 35 per cent of regional operator customers said that the process of dealing with delays was satisfactory. Of course, in an ideal world nothing


would go wrong with the rail service, but most people accept that some problems are unavoidable and it is how they are dealt with that actually matters. It is certainly true that every customer experience, whether good or bad, has an impact on loyalty. Loyal customers spend more, and, more importantly, recommend to others. Loyalty creates profit. Therefore, to increase satisfaction and,


in turn, increased loyalty and profit, rail operators must focus on key aspects of their customer service – such as how they handle delays. And certainly, timely and proactive passenger communication by email, mobile text messaging, interactive voice calls and other channels would go a long way towards helping improve the customer experience. The first step for rail operators must be


to identify and try to remove the common negative emotions affecting their brand- loyalty, because these will be having a significant financial impact. This is not just because of lost customers, but also through complaint handling and other knock-on service procedure costs.


PAGE 28 SEPTEMBER 2010


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