Chick-fil-A Ranks #1 for Customer Service—But Another Brand Is Nipping At Its Heels
Chick-fil-A has already developed quite a reputation for providing stellar customer service thanks to its famously friendly employees and high order accuracy. But a new report only reaffirms that the chicken chain is the best of the best when it comes to the guest experience—though one brand is nipping at its heels.
The experience management software company Qualtrics recently set out to identify which companies provide the best customer service in America by comparing three recent surveys: Forbes's Best Customer Service 2024, Newsweek's America's Best Customer Service 2024, and the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) 2023-2024. All three of these surveys assign numerical scores to different businesses based on their customer service or satisfaction, so the Qualtrics team weighted the results and used them to give each company an overall customer service score out of 300 possible points. Using those scores, it then compiled a ranking of the 50 companies with the best customer service.
While a wide range of businesses were analyzed in the study, including restaurants, grocery stores, airlines, hotels, and other retailers, Chick-fil-A eclipsed them all with a final score of 277.43. However, the popular regional grocery chain Publix was very close behind with a score of 275.91, less than a two-point difference.
This shows that even though Chick-fil-A may hold the customer service crown in America right now, it's far from lacking in competition.
So what makes Chick-fil-A and Publix so highly rated among their customers? Regarding Chick-fil-A, the Qualtrics report noted the chain's high company standards for customer service, such as training employees to say "my pleasure" when guests thank them.
"Small quirks like this have helped set the fast food chain apart from its competitors and leave a positive lasting impression on customers," Qualtrics said.
Additionally, 80% of Chick-fil-A franchisees only run one restaurant, which allows operators to be more hands-on and ensure smooth operations.
"With policies in place to encourage great customer service from both employees and franchise owners, we predict that the fast food restaurant will continue to offer great customer service for years to come," the report said of Chick-fil-A.
As for Publix, the Qualtrics report noted that the chain received the highest customer service scores of any grocer in both the Newsweek and ACSI surveys. Customer value is also a key part of its mission statement.
Trader Joe's (273.82 points), Wegmans (266.28 points), and Texas Roadhouse (255.53) were among the other restaurant and grocery chains that scored high in the new ranking. Consumers can check out the full list of the 50 companies with the best customer service on the Qualtrics website.
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