According to the latest results, YPO achieved an overall customer satisfaction score of 88.7 (out of 100) – four points up from last year – from its customers, with nine out of ten customers stating they were satisfied with their experience of buying products and services from us.

Exceeding the national all-sector average score of 77, YPO is ahead of leading retail giants John Lewis and Amazon in terms of levels of satisfaction achieved by its customers, as measured in the national UK Customer Satisfaction Index (UKCSI) published by the Institute of Customer Service in May 2016.

The UKCSI, based on research conducted by the Institute of Customer Service, provides a unique picture of the state of customer satisfaction in the UK across the past five years using a survey which involves nearly 10,000 recipients from across the UK population.

YPO also achieved outstanding scores in every category, with respondents reporting that YPO was easy to work with and highly accessible. Staff were viewed as helpful and customers also felt that YPO delivered strongly on product service, quality, reliability and cost. Customer retention was also high at 9.2 (out of 10) compared to the national all-sector average of 8.

In addition, YPO topped the index with a net promoter score (NPS) – an industry metric used to indicate customer loyalty – of 76.6.

YPO’s commitment to excellent customer service was further reflected in high scores for each of the channels used to interact and engage with customers, whether by phone, in writing or via its website, ypo.co.uk. Email was the most frequently used channel and achieved a satisfaction level of 86%, well ahead of the national UKCSI average of 73%.

Jo Marshall, Commercial Director at YPO, said: “Delivering an excellent customer experience is a top priority at YPO. A high level of customer service is critical to building customer loyalty and retention, and it’s great to see that this benchmarking survey reinforces the professionalism, quality and efficiency of our service. It’s particularly pleasing to hear that we’re easy to work with and see a high score for our accessibility to consumers.”

Jo Causon, Chief Executive of the Institute of Customer Service, said: “Business benchmarking enables organisations to benchmark themselves against some of the largest organisations in the UK whilst surveying their own customers to gain a better insight into their needs and develop strategies to meet them. By using the same survey as the national UKCSI, organisations review their customer service delivery against organisations from other sectors and find out more about what best practice looks like.”

YPO’s customer service strategy is driven by ‘Customer Connected’ – an organisation-wide programme designed to enhance the customer’s experience from within by focusing on employee engagement, strategic customer engagement and technological innovation.

A number of strategic initiatives covering these areas were implemented throughout 2015 to ensure that customer expectations were constantly being exceeded. The impact of these initiatives has enabled YPO to improve its delivery service to customers; improve customer response rates and make significant enhancements to the customer ordering process.

Recently, YPO won silver in the UK Employee Experience Award 2016 for the category ‘Loving your Customer’, as well as the ECMOD Direct Commerce Award 2016 for ‘Outstanding customer service B2B’.