According to the 2013 Temkin Experience Ratings, Apple and HP are the best computer companies for customer experience. The third annual survey of 10,000 U.S. consumers pegged Apple as the number one brand, but Temkin Group Managing Partner Bruce Temkin said that HP has been closing that lead. As a whole, the computer sector posted better scores, increasing from an average of 54 percent in 2011 to 60 percent in the latest rankings. Sony and Lenovo were the lowest scorers for the industry. Acer, Compaq, Dell, eMachines, Gateway, and Toshiba were also included in the survey and fell in the middle of the pack.
The Temkin survey covered three areas in customer experience. Functional scores assessed whether consumers could do what they wanted, accessible scores rated how easy the brand was to work with, and emotional scores ranked how people felt about their interactions with the company.
How did Apple walk away with its lead? The company earned a 64 percent rating and topped the computer companies with its accessible and emotional scores. Across all industries, Apple landed at No. 134. HP rated 62 percent and had the best functional ranking among the computer brands. Sony had the worst performance for the functional and accessible areas, while Lenovo had the bottom spot for the emotional component. You can check out the full results across all industries on the Temkin Ratings website.
The results shouldn’t be all that surprising. Going back as far as 2005, Apple has been getting props for its strong skills in the customer service department. Beyond good service, the brand recently received top accolades from the UK’s annual CoolBrands survey and at least one of Apple’s products are in about half of America’s homes. Love them or hate them, the folks in Cupertino are doing a lot right.
