FINDLAY, Ohio -- Speedway, BP and Shell took top honors in the convenience store category this quarter in Corporate Research International's RealPeopleRatings.com second-quarter customer service survey. Also, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Olive Garden, Papa Murphy's Take 'n' Bake Pizza, Nordstrom, Stride Rite, Ace Hardware, Office Depot, Dick's Sporting Goods, Publix, Walgreens, Southwest Airlines, Credit Unions, Best Buy and Marriott earned highest marks in their categories this quarter.
The company sends the quarterly surveys as online opinion polls to its pool of panelists; 1,389 [image-nocss] panelists participated in this quarter's survey. Respondents were asked to rate their perception of each business's customer service on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the highest rating. If a respondent did not have experience with the business, the panelist did not enter a score for that establishment.
"Companies with consistently high ratings are focused on all customer touchpoints," said Michael Mallett, CEO of CRI. "Every interaction customers have with a business impacts overall perception, so an ongoing effort to maintain all areas keeps scores high. Looking at the customer experience from all angles is ultimately what keeps customers coming back."
Category Winners:
Convenience StoresSpeedwayBPShell(Click here for full c-store rankings.)
SupermarketsPublix
KrogerSafewayDrug StoresWalgreensCVSRite Aid
Fast Food RestaurantsChipotle Mexican GrillSubwaySonic
Full-Service RestaurantsOlive GardenTexas RoadhouseLonghornPizza RestaurantsPapa Murphy's Take 'n' Bake PizzaCiCi's PizzaPapa John'sOffice Supply StoresOffice DepotStaplesFedEx Kinko'sDepartment StoresNordstromSaks Fifth AvenueBloomingdale'sShoe StoresStride RiteAldoJourneys
Home Improvement StoresAce HardwareTrue ValueLowe'sSporting Goods StoresDick's Sporting Goods
Hibbett SportsFoot LockerElectronics StoresBest Buy
RadioShackCircuit CityBanksCredit UnionsWashington MutualWachoviaHotelsMarriott
HyattHiltonAirlinesSouthwestJetBlueDelta(Click here for all category rankings.)
Survey respondents represented all regions of the country and completed only one survey each. Respondents spanned all ages, household incomes, education levels and ethnicities. The scores reflect the mean score, which is an average of the sum of each score divided by the total number of observations.
Findlay, Ohio-based Corporate Research International (CRI) specializes in mystery shopping services and interactive customer voice and Web response surveys. The company tracks trends of quality service and appearance, providing information to help businesses retain happy, loyal customers. RealPeopleRatings.com was launched in 2005.
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