Research & Publications
Got a member account? Make sure you login for access to more free resources and member rates on research. We publish a range of research reports, literature reviews and UK Customer Satisfaction Index results.
Latest publications
return on investment in customer service: the bottom line report
Our research report examines what customer service activities bring the best returns, how we go about measuring customer intangibles and how to achieve an ROI from customer service. It's invaluable for anyone who needs to demonstrate the value of customer service.
Buy return on investment in customer service: the bottom line report from our shop.
You can also download an executive summary for free.
UK Customer Satisfaction Index results
We publish the UK's main customer satisfaction index, the results of a six monthly survey of 26,000 UK adults' customer service experiences. The results are divided into 13 sectors and provide an overall view of each sector, question level results and complaints data.
The results are invaluable for organisations who appear in the index, researchers and journalists and consultants.
UK Customer Satisfaction Index results
Research reports
We commission research into a wide range of customer service areas, including customer priorities, defining world class service, business to business customer relationships and customer service in local government.
All our research is written from a practical point of view and provides advice for those who are responsible for customer service within an organisation. It can help you do such things as set up a customer satisfaction survey, develop a service strategy and motivate and train frontline staff to improve your bottom line.
Council and corporate members of The Institute receive a free copy of these reports, and all members are entitled to a discount.
Literature reviews
Our literature reviews provide an overview of the current knowledge and methodology in a chosen customer service subject. They enable you to bring yourself up to date on a particular issue and explore wider reading material.
They'll also provide practical advice on a number of subjects, such as improving customer experience, handling and responding to complaints and implementing cultural change within an organisation.
Member–only resources
Customer service topic sheets
These have been written to give members quick access to a range of customer service topics, including best practice benchmarking, business ethics, metrics and technology. You'll need to login to access topic sheets.
customerfirst magazine archive
customerfirst was the Institute's member magazine between 1999 and 2009. We've maintained an archive of over 500 articles for Institute members.
Find out about organisational membership
Improve customer satisfaction, employee engagement and bottom line performance. Find out how membership can benefit your organisation.