Waste services industry rebounds a bit, but remains in the minus with NPS of -5
The waste service industry is doing slightly better on customer experience than last year. However, the NPS (Net Promoter Score) is still in the minus: -5 versus -7. The number of enthusiastic, recommending customers (promoters) remains the same (22%), but the number of detractors (“non-recommenders”) drops from 29% to 27%. The industry faces challenges such as mandatory separation of commercial waste and sustainable waste collection and thorough communication about it. In addition, waste service providers are still experiencing the financial impact of continuing contracts during the pandemic, while less frequent commercial waste collections were made during the corona period. This is according to the benchmark report “Customer Experience within Waste Services 2022” by research and consulting firm Integron.
From the government, it is mandatory to separate commercial waste. “We see that communication and proactive advice on this towards customers and communication in general in the industry often leaves much to be desired. It is clear that separating waste is not yet as well established with many companies as it is with households who do separate their waste and generally do so well. Waste service providers sometimes struggle with this when it comes to information, communication and encouraging companies to separate waste. This is precisely where ‘enthusiasm gains’ can be made. Because it has been shown that if communication and information go well, these are ‘promoters’ aspects to recommend waste service providers,” says Marit Luijten, Customer Experience Consultant at Integron.
What is clear is that separating waste is not yet as well established among many businesses as it is among households who do separate their waste and generally well.
Despite challenges, average satisfaction remains a 7.6
With an NPS of -5, waste services scored the lowest of all B2B industries. Still, the average satisfaction remains a 7.6. “That is indeed notable. We see that detractors are not satisfied with the service, keeping appointments and ensuring sufficient information and communication. It is precisely on these points that promoters are enthusiastic. So the dividing line between good and less good customer experiences and satisfaction is very thin. It is important for the industry to take all developments into account in order to continue to focus on optimizing services and to keep investing in proper and thorough proactive information and communication with customers. Furthermore, the industry is playing catch-up. Due to COVID measures, many businesses and offices were partially or completely closed for the past two years and thus had much less waste to be collected. Contracts continued to run and so this had financial implications for waste service providers and for their customers. So we saw that some waste service providers had taken it well and others had taken it less well with their customers,” says Luijten.
Complaint handling can and must improve
The main area for improvement remains complaint handling within the waste service industry. With a 5.9, it is quite below the national average of 6.7. Luijten: “Within the customer journey we see the satisfaction with complaint handling decreasing further and further. The (repeat) complaints that are voiced are mainly about planning, emptying and the correct and sufficient collection equipment. It happens that collection times for commercial waste are changed without communicating this to the customer. Also, people often wait a long time at customer service before they get to speak to someone. That kind of customer experience does the industry no favors. The quick and appropriate action of account management and customer service plays a big role in this. It is really important to optimize complaint handling.”
About the benchmark report
Integron based the NPS benchmark report “Customer Experience within Waste Services 2022” on dozens of customer surveys conducted in the industry in 2021. Download the benchmark report here and get insight into the NPS and customer journey of companies within the waste service industry.
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