Published on 26 July 2010 by numero in Latest News

The definitive Which? Survey into the customer service performance of 100 leading high street names was widely reported recently, with articles appearing in many national newspapers including The Daily Mail.

This was great news for Lakeland (who we’ve worked with since 2005) as they topped the poll which drew on the experiences of more than 14,000 shoppers across a broad range of product categories from electrical appliances to baby and toddler products. Lakeland was praised for innovative products and great aftersales service. In our experience of working with the team in Windermere, no one tries harder and is more dedicated to customer service excellence than Lakeland. So the top place position is a reflection of their hard work, dedication, systems (which include the numero solutions platform) and ongoing investment, even during a time of recession. It is therefore our pleasure to reproduce the league table featured in The Daily Mail and to congratulate our friends in Windermere for their outstanding achievement.

Whilst Lakeland was praised in the Which? Poll, it wasn’t such good news for a number of others, including WH Smith, who have to content with headlines such as that from the Daily Mail: “WH Smith shamed: Once great name now rated bottom by High Street customers”.  In contrast to strong financial results, the retailer hit rock bottom of the league table with Which? concluding that the established high street name was ‘not as good as it used to be’.

There is, perhaps, a lesson for the high street within the results, with Lakeland continuing to invest in customer service, even during a recession – a fact that clearly hasn’t gone unnoticed given the comments by Which? We hope that some of the poorer performers take a leaf out of the Lakeland book and prioritise their customers’ needs – something our own research recently identified as lacking in many cases.