NU Online News Service, Feb. 21, 11:00 a.m.EST

Six insurers were among a total of 40 businesses named as thisyear’s Customer Service Champions in a report released by J.D.Power and Associates.

The Westlake Village, Calif.-based global marketing informationservices company released its latest report, titled “Achieving Excellence in Customer Service.” Thereport is aimed at helping businesses understand and recognizewhich industries, besides their own, provide the highest levels ofservice, which would help these businesses elevate their owncustomer service standards.

“To be good in any industry, it makes sense to look at the bestpractices across industries,” said Gary Tucker, senior vicepresident of global services and emerging industries at J.D. Powerand Associates. “Every day, consumers interact with companies froma myriad of industries. Invariably, they compare the quality ofthese service experiences. Industries and companies should be doingthe same if they expect to keep pace in today’s increasinglycompetitive environment.”

According to Mr. Tucker, companies that have successfullyweathered the economic storm are those that have in place abusiness strategy of service excellence and recognize thatdelivering high-quality service is a powerful differentiator in theface of changing market conditions.

Based on customer feedback, J.D. Power and Associatesindentified 40 brands as Customer Service Champions. Among thosewere six insurance companies. They are:

• Amica Mutual Insurance
• Auto-Owners Insurance
• Erie Insurance
• Farm Bureau Insurance of Tennessee
• New Jersey Manufacturers Insurance
• USAA Insurance

Those that received this year’s designation were among the top 5percent of more than 80 evaluated brands based on their performancein five key areas.

• People
• Presentation
• Price
• Product
• Process

“Today’s consumers expect companies to do it all and have theright people, the right presentation, the right price, the rightproduct and the right process,” said Mr. Tucker. “Brands identifiedas J.D. Power Customer Service Champions are getting all of thesethings right. Some are even outperforming the best of their peersin meeting heightened customer expectations.”

J.D. Power noted that during the past decade, averagesatisfaction scores for service-oriented industries have remainedflat, unlike in product-based industries, for which satisfactionhas improved steadily. In addition, across all service industriesmeasured by J.D. Power, gaps in satisfaction between thehighest- and lowest-performing brands have increased considerablybetween 2003 and 2010.