Swiss companies and industries fail to meet consumer expectations

Reputation management is a key issue for every company. Especially in economically challenging times, companies need a sound basis for decision-making in order to maintain an efficient and targeted exchange with stakeholders and thus create competitive advantages for themselves. Farner Consulting brings a system for measuring and managing reputation to Switzerland, together with the market research institute meinungsraum.com. The system was developed by Fleishman Hillard, Farner's international agency partner.

The "reputation gap" approach addresses the differences between consumers' expectations and actual experiences and defines nine relevant drivers of reputation management. Five Swiss industries were examined in a first round of surveys: Banking, Telecommunications, Retail, Insurance and Health Insurance.

Key findings:

- Individual companies manage to meet customer expectations. However, the results are sobering across all industries.

- The Swiss love cooperatively organized businesses and hold the retail trade in high esteem.

- Health insurance companies and telecoms companies are largely unable to meet customer expectations. The positioning as an overall industry shows the greatest deficits at the banks and the health insurers.

- Raiffeisen, Swisscom, Migros, Mobiliar and Swica are the best rated in their respective sectors.

Roman Geiser, CEO and Managing Partner of Farner, emphasizes the importance of the "Reputation Gap" method: "Experience and retrospective analysis are no longer enough to make sound decisions. Management decisions and consultant recommendations must be based on data. In our daily work, we increasingly feel the demand for tools to analyze reputation and help steer it with the right levers. The decisive factor is not the absolute reputation value, but the difference between consumer expectations and the experienced performance of the company. This form of corporate authenticity as well as the industry environment determine reputation capital."

The analysis shows management, communications and brand managers where action is needed and in which reputation-impacting areas changes need to be made to meet customer expectations. At the same time, it provides a scientific basis and data for strategy development and the implementation of communications activities.

Five industries compared - results are sobering

The representative study examines the gap between customer expectations and customer experiences in relation to individual companies and industries as a whole. To this end, those behavioral characteristics were identified that consumers most frequently associate with credible companies. The results of the first Swiss study are sobering when viewed across all the industries surveyed. In all industries, the difference between customer expectations and actual experiences is striking. There are also clear deficits in how industries and their organizations are able to communicate the added value of their respective sector.

Strong in communicating social responsibility

The study shows that the companies surveyed are most likely to meet customer expectations in the core area of "social responsibility" ("perception of employee needs," "perception of social responsibility" and "environmental friendliness"). At the same time, expectations for "perception of social responsibility" are lower than for "customer benefits" or "leadership behavior," for example.

Swiss customers miss customer service and are price-sensitive

However, social responsibility alone does not make a company successful. In the areas of "customer value" (which include "value for money" and "perception of customer needs"), there is a need for action for many companies. A good "price-performance ratio" and the "perception of customer needs" are the most important reputation drivers - across the entire study, this is where customers' expectations of the industry and the companies in the respective industry are highest.

Results on the individual industries:

Need for action in industry communication

In all industries, the difference between customer expectations and actual experience is large. A look at the results of the individual companies shows that, almost without exception, the companies perform better in comparison with the industry. This confirms that the communicative proximity of the respondents to their personal provider is crucial. The results reveal that many industries and their organizations need to intensify their industry communication.

Health insurance companies cannot meet customer expectations

In a sector comparison, health insurers are least able to meet customer expectations. The main areas where they need to catch up are "doing the right thing" and "value for money. In terms of value for money, all providers are close together, with one exception. Price can therefore hardly be a differentiating factor.

Expectations of banks are high

Expectations of banks are high compared with the rest of the industry. The individual companies fulfill these expectations surprisingly well, but the industry as a whole shows visible deficits. One bank does almost everything right: according to the respondents, Raiffeisen has the most credible communication of all Swiss banks, which is only slightly below the expectations for the industry. Raiffeisenbank occupies a top position in seven out of nine reputation drivers.

Swisscom comes closest to meeting expectations

The telecom companies are in the lower midfield. According to the study, "price expectations," "credible communication," and "customer needs" cannot be adequately served by any company. Swisscom comes closest to meeting customer expectations, but is perceived as expensive.

Satisfaction with retail trade

High expectations are placed on the Swiss retail trade, which companies are generally able to meet. There is a need to catch up in the "perception of customer needs" and in some cases in "price expectations". Migros and Denner exceed expectations in "perception of social responsibility". In the three reputation drivers "innovation," "perception of customer needs" and "credible communication," Aldi is in no way inferior to the traditional Swiss brand Migros.

Insurance companies best meet customer expectations overall

Compared with other sectors, insurance companies are the most likely to meet customers' expectations. However, these are lower in comparison than for other sectors. Nevertheless, there is room for improvement in the areas of "credible communication," "value for money," and "perception of customer needs. Mobiliar's communication is rated as very credible. Mobiliar is the only insurer to exceed industry expectations in this area as well.

The summary of the study and all original graphics can be found at. Farner.ch