Singapore Airlines beats Aussie brands for customer experience

Singapore Airlines has topped KMPG’s 2019 Australian list for customer experience excellence, leaving its airline competitors to languish in the middle ranks. Singapore’s number one listing for the second successive year compared with a ranking of 29 for Qantas, 31 for Virgin Australia and 32 for Emirates. KPMG surveyed more than 2500 customers and rated 114 Australian and international brands in 11 sectors for the survey. The customers must have interacted with the brand in the last six months. READ: Crucial oversight meant Tigerair cabin failed to pressurize. It looked at six areas: personalization, minimizing customer effort, resolving problems, integrity, managing expectations and empathy. Consumers rated customer experience delivery in Australia as good “but not great”, according to the survey. The overall rating rose only marginally, suggesting brands could invest more. “Overall, we find there is still little competition on customer experience in the Australian market, offering an opportunity for brands to disrupt the market and build a lasting and competitive advantage,’’ it said. Singapore was ahead of the pack with an overall customer excellence score of 7.9, 0.76 above the national average and 0.07 ahead of second-place getter RACQ. Others in the Australian top 10 included Bendigo Bank, PayPal, AfterPay, ING, NRMA Insurance, Dan Murphy’s, RACV Insurance and Subway. “Providing an exceptional customer experience is at the forefront of every decision we make as an airline, and is something that is ingrained in our DNA,’’ Singapore Airlines regional vice president Phillip Goh said. “Whether in the air or on the ground, every member of staff seeks to go above and beyond to ensure that our customers have a positive travel experience.” Singapore also came second in the New Zealand rankings after the nation’s seventh-biggest bank, TSB, but was closely followed by Air New Zealand in third place. The New Zealand report said both airlines were exceptional amongst the Kiwi travel and hotel sector. “A commonality across Singapore Airlines and Air New Zealand’s success is that both brands obsess over customer needs and invest a considerable amount of time and resource into the science of execution,’’ the NZ report said.