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The 2014 customer service Hall of Fame

Douglas A. McIntyre, Alexander Kent, Alexander E.M. Hess, Thomas C. Frohlich and Ashley C. Allen
24/7 Wall St.

Which companies do Americans enjoy dealing with the most? Truth is, many of the names that top this annual list of best companies for customer service will not surprise you — they've been highly rated for years.

CEO Jeff Bezo's company leads the 2014 Customer Service Hall of Fame for the fifth consecutive year.

The highest-rated company, Amazon.com, once again tops the Customer Service Hall of Fame list this year — for the fifth consecutive time.

In collaboration with research survey group Zogby Analytics, 24/7 Wall St. polled 2,500 adults about the quality of customer service at 150 of America's best-known companies in 15 industries, asking if that service was "excellent," "good," "fair" or "poor."

Those with the highest percentages of "poor" rankings make up the Customer Service Hall of Shame; those with the highest "excellent" ratings make up our Customer Service Hall of Fame. (See how the survey was done below.)

For many of the companies with the top-rated customer service, this is not their first time on the list. Eight of the 10 have made the Hall of Fame at least once before. Trader Joe's, UPS and Apple have made the list at least five times since 2009.

The companies with the highest-rated customer satisfaction are spread across a range of industries. Companies like Trader Joe's, Chick-fil-A and American Express are in industries that generally do not rate very highly for customer service.

While only two of the highly rated companies are in the hospitality industry, several other companies on the Customer Service Hall of Fame model their customer relations after that industry.

"Nobody knows more about being hospitable than the hospitality industry," said Micah Solomon, customer satisfaction expert. "When you are selling a rectangular room, you have to do everything you can to move far out of the commodity zone through service, so that is what great hospitality companies concentrate on."

Solomon explained how other companies, such as Apple and Chick-fil-A, developed their customer service. "Instead of benchmarking the direct competition, they sent their managers to the Ritz-Carlton training program. And that is where they learned many things: how to greet customers, how to probe for and serve unexpressed wishes, and so forth."

Although many of the best-rated customer service companies have little in common, they do, by and large, offer a good working environment. According to Shep Hyken, customer satisfaction expert, keeping employees happy is essential to customer satisfaction. "There's a correlation between your list and another list: the best companies to work for."

In fact, two companies on our list — Apple and Chick-fil-A — were among Glassdoor.com's 2014 best companies to work for. Almost all of the companies in the Hall of Fame had above-average Glassdoor.com reviews.

This is 24/7 Wall St.'s Customer Service Hall of Fame:

1. Amazon.com

> Pct. ratings "excellent": 57.5%

Amazon.com (AMZN) leads the 2014 Customer Service Hall of Fame for the fifth consecutive year. In addition to receiving by far the highest percentage of "excellent" responses, less than 2% rated the company "poor," the smallest negative perception of any company reviewed.

According to Kopalle, Amazon.com does several things very well. As the largest online shopping site in the world, it offers a level of convenience that is difficult for other businesses to match.

The company's roots as a technology company also help customer service. The site maintains the customers' purchase history and makes suggestions accordingly. This is part of an extremely valuable pool of "data about [a] customer's behaviors and habits," Kopalle said. It would be very difficult "to recreate that profile at any other company."

To the extent that customer service leads to better financial performance, Amazon.com is clearly doing something right. The online retailer reported sales of $74.5 billion last year, nearly triple the 2009 sales of $24.5 billion. Despite top line growth, Wall Street remains divided over Amazon.com's prospects.

According to Calkins, "Amazon is interesting. They clearly are doing something right. The interesting question long-term for Amazon is will people pay more for that level of customer service."

2. Hilton Worldwide

> Pct. ratings "excellent": 41.4%

Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (NYSE: HLT) has the best customer service of any hotel company in the United States. What's more, the company is one of just two businesses this year to gain an "excellent" rating for its customer service from more than 40% of respondents.

The company has a long track record of pioneering new initiatives to win the satisfaction of its guests. In 1947, the Roosevelt Hilton in New York City became the first hotel to offer in-room television. In 1959, Hilton developed the world's first airport hotel. And in 1989, the company instituted a customer satisfaction policy wherein unsatisfied customers are not expected to have to pay.

Hilton has been able to maintain its customer service focus despite being one of the largest hotel chains in the world, with over $9.7 billion in revenue and more than 4,000 hotels and resorts systemwide. After being taken private by the Blackstone Group in 2007, Hilton Worldwide had one of the largest IPOs in 2013.

3. Marriott International

> Pct. ratings "excellent": 39.9%

Marriott International Inc. (NASDAQ: MAR) is well-regarded for its customer service and for its commitment to treating its employees fairly. Company founder Willard Marriott was famous for his hands-on approach — the company notes that he thought that well-treated employees are key to the company's success.

Even today, employees at Marriott report being treated well. According to Glassdoor.com, more than three-quarters of employees would recommend Marriott to a friend, and both the company and its CEO are well-liked by workers. During the recession, Marriott ensured that all of its employees kept their benefits despite shortening shifts.

Hyken emphasized that treating employees well contributes to good customer service. Marriott has been among Fortune's "100 Best Companies to Work For" every year since the magazine started producing the list in 1998, one of only a handful of companies to achieve this.

Popular reward programs that provide additional benefits for long-time customers, or deals that offer a free night, are hallmarks of the hotel industry, Praveen Kopalle, professor of marketing at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College, explained. "[Marriott and Hilton] have done an amazing job of managing these programs and it's showing in customer retention."

4. Chick-fil-A

> Pct. ratings "excellent": 38.6%

Chick-fil-A's customer service track record includes a number of innovative ideas. According to Solomon, Chick-fil-A adopted the policy of responding to customers with the phrase "my pleasure" from Ritz-Carlton, the luxury hotel chain.

More recently, in an effort to demonstrate transparency in the food preparation process, Chick-fil-A began allowing customers to take tours of its kitchens.

The chain's employees appear to be satisfied as well. In 2014, Chick-fil-A was rated one of the best companies to work for by Glassdoor.com.

Chick-fil-A is the sole restaurant in the 2014 Customer Service Hall of Fame, with 38.6% of survey respondents rating the chain as having "excellent" customer service. Major national chains such as Domino's, KFC and McDonald's received top ratings from barely 20% of customers.

Chick-fil-A's faith-based identity is at the core of what distinguishes the company, but also on occasion a source of controversy. Founder Truett Cathy's religious convictions appear to have inspired the chain's policy of always closing on Sundays. His son, current CEO Don Cathy, spurred controversy in 2012 when he stated his opposition to gay marriage.

5. American Express

> Pct. ratings "excellent": 37.7%

Unlike many other companies on the Hall of Fame, opinions of customer service at American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP) are especially inconsistent.

In 2012, the credit card company made the Customer Service Hall of Fame. Last year, however, the company was on the Hall of Shame list, with 14% of survey respondents reporting "poor" experiences with American Express. This year, the company is back in the Hall of Fame, with nearly 38% of respondents reporting "excellent" experiences.

Credit card companies associated with banks tend to suffer from the banks' often poor public images. Bank of America, Wells Fargo and Citigroup — banks that issue their own credit cards — all made our Customer Service Hall of Shame list this year.

While American Express has a banking component, it is generally considered a credit card company and has largely avoided the negative association with the banking industry.

Employees also seem to be relatively satisfied. Reviewers at Glassdoor.com gave American Express above average ratings as an employer.

Methodology

24/7 Wall St. commissioned Zogby Analytics to conduct an online national survey in which 2,500 randomly chosen respondents rated customer service at 150 of the best-known companies in the country. Fifteen industries are represented in the study.

Respondents were asked to evaluate customer service quality as "excellent," "good," "fair," or "poor." Of the 150 companies, 108 companies had at least 500 valid responses. Companies with fewer valid responses were not considered.

The 10 companies with the highest percentage of "poor" responses represent our Customer Service Hall of Shame. Using the same methodology, the 10 with the highest percentage of "excellent" responses became our Customer Service Hall of Fame. This is the first year 24/7 Wall St. has conducted this study.

In previous years, the study was conducted by MSN and Zogby Analytics.

24/7 Wall St. is a USA TODAY content partner offering financial news and commentary. Its content is produced independently of USA TODAY.

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