An Industry on Top: Home Buying More Pleasant than Ever

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RISMEDIA, Oct. 8, 2007-Grass Roots has launched its U.S. measurement division (Grass Roots Performance Measurement LLC), with a customer service survey, popular and well known in Europe as “Are You Being Served?” The ten city survey offers fresh insight into customer service levels and the experience that customers are getting from a range of stores and other service providers. It also reveals that sometimes this experience does not always live up to expectations.

At the time of writing this report we were witnessing chaos in the mortgage and property markets in the US, so whilst the rest of the world’s media was slamming the US for causing havoc in the financial world through provision of too much ‘easy money’ for house-buying – the best experience in service in the world (according to this survey) was in the real estate market in the U.S.

The U.S. survey covered cities across the nation including: Phoenix, Dallas, Kansas City, Atlanta, Seattle, Los Angeles, Miami, Chicago, Boston and New York. Customer service and experience was tested in the following sectors: real estate, furniture stores, fast-food, department stores, bars, electronics retailers, mobile phone retailers, home improvement retailers, coffee shops, banks, gas stations drug stores and grocery stores.

“The U.S. service experience is still one of the highest in the world” says Jane Edwards-Hall, general manager of Grass Roots Performance Measurement in the U.S.A. “What did surprise us was the wide variation of standards in different cities in the US – some of our cities have a lot of catching up to do!”
Some key findings for each of the cities:

- The Phoenix Suns are not the only things that shine in Phoenix; this city ranks best for all-around customer service with an impressive 85% score. Interested in moving to the area now that you know what great service you will get? The real estate industry scored a 99% approval rating here.
- Banking is booming in Boston in terms of how they treat their clients, ranking first among all the cities surveyed in this sector.
- Want stellar service when you buy a hamburger? Fast-food in Boston, Chicago, Seattle, Dallas and Phoenix all scored a delicious 80% or above.
- And if you ever feel that fast-food is just trying to get you in and out quickly then take note that this sector was the best surveyed when it came to spotting opportunities to push order revisions and upgrading customer choices suggesting a more personal attention to service.
- When the wind is blowing in the windy city the locals grab a hot cup of Joe; Chicagoland blew the other cities out of the water when it comes to friendly and efficient service in coffee shops.
- Kansas City doesn’t need improvement when it comes to home improvement retailing, scoring a 93% ranking in furniture and the home improvement retail sectors.
- And if you want to know the best place to get a cocktail in the country? Well, it’s at the Cheesecake Factory in Phoenix – a near-perfect cocktail hour
- When it’s not so sunny in the sunshine state, you may want to stay indoors and indulge in a flat screen television. Miami ranked as the top city in customer service for electronics retailing with a 92% ranking.
What this survey proves is the lack of consistency in service delivery. Our shoppers and guests were not so well served when it came to the following:

- With the lowest ranking in gas stations, New York City, a place filled with full-service gas stations, doesn’t offer much more than gas in its stations.
- If you need a prescription filled ASAP, Los Angeles is not the city you want to be in with an upsetting 49% service ranking.
- And buying groceries in Miami can be confusing! The best and the worst service was experienced here with one outlet only scoring a miserable 13% while another received a score of over 90.

Methodology
Grass Roots has been conducting such surveys for nearly three decades and, like many US companies, uses mystery shoppers and mystery guests to help build the picture of service standards.

Grass Roots conducted a nationwide mystery shopping survey during July and August 2007 to understand general service levels and customer experiences (not only of service experience but of brand experience also) across ten U.S. cities and within 13 industry sectors.

800 visits in total were conducted. More details on the methodology employed are available upon request.

For further information visit www.grg.com.

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