Bill Woods chats to Barry Urquhart, Managing Director of Marketing Focus, about Australian customer service standards which have slumped since the onset of the COVID 19 pandemic.

Restricted trading hours, business closures, understaffing, empty shelves, long order lead-times, queues and delays have impacted and determined customer expectations.  Each has fallen short of acceptable standards.

Many Australian businesses, it seems – particularly those in hospitality, tourism, retail and new home construction – have developed excuses and apologies into an artform. Poor service standards have persisted.

These are among the key findings of a series of attitudinal focus groups conducted in five Australian capital cities during August by Mr Urquhart who is author of two best-selling books on service excellence in Australasia.

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