Xoserve achieve record ICS results

We’d like to thank all our customers who took part in the annual customer satisfaction survey issued to customers in February.  

We will use the results to define the actions that need to be taken to improve customer experience. This would include ways that we could achieve process efficiency whilst still delivering the required standard of customer experience, and how we would best deploy our resources to add value in the areas that matter most to customers. We would continue to engage with customers via constituency groups to better understand how we can do this. 

The survey, issued and managed through the Institute of Customer Service (ICS), determines Xoserve’s UK customer satisfaction index (UKCSI). ICS use specific metrics to independently benchmark Xoserve’s performance, based on customers’ most recent transactions.

Our overall satisfaction score: 78.9 – 9% higher than the utilities sector average 

For 2022/23 we achieved an overall satisfaction score of 78.9, as an average across all core segments. This is a 4.7 increase from 2021/22 (74.2) and exceeds the utilities sector average of 71.7. The UKCSI results broken down by segment are listed below, and show the increase from 2021/22: 

• Transmission 84.9 (increase of 10.9) 
• Small and Medium Shippers 82.9 (increase of 10.2) 
• Large Shippers 81.3 (increase of 6.2)
• Industrial and Commercial (I&C) Shippers 79.3 (increase of 0.2)
• Distribution Networks (DN) 76.7 (increase of 2.4)
• Independent Gas Transporters (IGTs) 67.3 (increase of 6.2) 

Net Promoter Score (NPS) – recommending our services 

We asked customers how likely they would be to recommend Xoserve to colleagues, which gives us our NPS. For this, we achieved +26.1, an increase of 18.6 from our 2021/22 score of +7.5. 

Customer Effort (CE) – less effort, more value 

We asked how much effort it takes to complete a transaction, enquiry or request. For CE scores, a lower result means less effort was needed. Our CE score was 3.8 out of 10, which is a 0.5 improvement since last year. 

Right First Time (RFT) – a more efficient service 

We asked customers how frequently services are delivered to them ‘right first time’. This year, ‘yes’ responses increased by 0.3 to 53.2%, and ‘no’ responses decreased by 7.9 to 17.4%, meaning customers are seeing more efficient results. The remaining 29.4% responded as don’t know or not applicable.  

What are you most happy with? 

You told us you’re most satisfied with the helpfulness and competence of staff and the ease of doing business with us. Customers named 37 individuals who had delivered exceptional customer service.

When we asked customers to describe their most recent experience with us, the top five words used were: informed, satisfied, confident, informative and knowledgeable.

What can we do better? 

Your feedback also highlighted opportunities where we can make improvements.  

You’re least satisfied with the speed, outcome and how we handle your complaints. We also received suggestions for improvements in the following areas: 

• Engagement – consistency and ease of access to experts 
• Industry process and system enhancements – address issues more efficiently   
• Website and self-serve - ease of access to process guidance ​ 
• Communications – better standards and control, with updates on progress
• Knowing your customers​ – understand needs and priorities for different constituencies
• Resolutions – improve the speed of responding and resolving ticket requests
• Change – better coordination, engagement and delivery of large change  

Listening to your feedback 

Based on what our customers told us in last year’s survey, we focussed on improvements in the following areas: 

• Our people engagement and relationships with customers across all segments, services and products 
• Xoserve’s operational stability and reliability  
• The ease of using Xoserve’s website and its self-serve capabilities 

Looking forward, we will strive to continuously improve in all areas of customer experience. We will address the areas where customers are least satisfied or have told us that we need to enhance.  

The UKCSI survey remains a vital tool in ensuring that we are putting you at the centre of everything we do. We will be sharing any changes and updates through xoserve.com.

More about ICS 

The ICS is the independent professional membership body for customer service, working across all sectors to drive business performance through service excellence.

It runs the UK’s largest cross-sector customer benchmarking study, working with over 10,000 customers, gathering 45,000 responses from across 13 sectors.

Visit the ICS website