Customer satisfaction is on the rise globally after more than a year in decline, and New Zealand is the happiest of the lot according to the quarterly ‘Zendesk Benchmark Report’ released today. Our New Zealand neighbours are the most satisfied with the service they receive, coming in at 92%, with Canada and Australia not far behind with 91% and 89% respectively.

Industries with historically-poor ratings, including financial and insurance services, saw recent gains and global consumer confidence has improved in a similar trend. For the second quarter of 2013, the average customer satisfaction rating reached 81%, which represents an overall increase of three percentage points from the previous quarter. This is the highest level since the first quarter of 2012.

“Companies in most industries throughout the world are seeing gains in customer satisfaction right when consumers are ready to spend more,” says Sam Boonin, research lead for the Zendesk Benchmark and vice president of products at Zendesk, a cloud-based customer service software provider.

Customer satisfaction by country

Best countries:

1. New Zealand: 92% (-1 percentage point change from Q1).
2. Canada: 91% (+4 percentage points), and
3. Australia: 89% (+4 percentage points).

Worst countries:

1. United Arab Emirates: 58% (+5 percentage point change from Q1),
2. South Africa: 60% (+16 percentage points), and
3. Turkey: 68% (+3 percentage points).

Customer satisfaction by industry

Best industries:

1. Education: 95% (no change from Q1)
2. IT Services & Consultancy: 95% (-1 percentage point)
3. Real Estate: 94% (no change)

Worst industries:

1. Social Media: 64% (+2 percentage point change from Q1)
2. Media & Telecommunications: 73% (no change)
3. Entertainment & Gaming: 76% (+4 percentage points)

Source: Zendesk Customer Service Benchmark 2013