Customer attitudes toward service

Abstract

Is customer service getting worse? Earlier this year Gordon Simmons Research, in association with Management & Marketing Development Ltd, interviewed a representative national sample of 1,007 adults aged 16 years and over. These adults were asked which retail types they had visited in the last four weeks and whether they had any complaints about the service received on any of their visits. The research was concerned with problems at the point of sale rather than after‐sales service. Martin Simmons' conclusion is that customer service standards are going to get worse before they get better, and that any retailer who can demonstrate a competitive edge in service levels and staff training could more than pay for his investment through higher sales and profits.

Citation

Simmons, M. (1989), "Customer attitudes toward service", Retail and Distribution Management, Vol. 17 No. 6, pp. 6-8. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb018427