Survey: Consumers Rank USAA Tops in Service

USAA, which provides insurance to people in the armed services, their spouses and children, was ranked No. 1 of companies that demonstrate they have their customers’ best interests at heart in a survey by Forrester Research Inc.

According to the report, customer advocacy drives real loyalty — a willingness to buy and borrow more from, and save and invest more with a firm that a consumer already uses. The survey results were based on the responses of 5,000 consumers who evaluated 53 U.S. banks, brokerages, insurers and credit card issuers.

USAA retained thee top spot for insurers for the fourth consecutive year. According to the survey, this year, 20 financial services providers, 13 of them insurers, were rated high on customer advocacy by a majority of their customers. Property and casualty insurers scored particularly well, the report said.

“As a key driver of consumers’ future purchase intent, customer advocacy is becoming a higher priority for firms that realize how important organic growth is,” said Bill Doyle, vice president and principal analyst at Forrester Research in a statement. “The top-rated firms recognize the importance of improving the customer experience so they can deepen relationships with existing customers.”

For more information on the survey, “Customer Advocacy 2007: How Consumers Rate Banks, Brokerages, Insurers and Credit Card Issuers,” visit www.forrester.com/Research/Document/0,7211,41572,00.html.

Source: Forrester Research