How are staff shortages affecting brand loyalty?

Many employees have been laid off, their hours reduced or have been furloughed due to the pandemic. This has created a short-fall of staff, severely impacting the customer experience across sectors.

Hospitality is struggling to hire staff. This has caused reduced hours, closures and cutting of lunch menus. With longer waiting times, frustration and unhappiness in both customers and employees.

UKHospitality found 80% of its members were short of front-of-house staff, such as waiters, and 85% needed chefs.

Retail is suffering from lengthy queues and a lack of cashier assistants.

People want to go on holiday, but airlines are cancelling flights.

Medical and mental health services are booked up, with waiting lists longer than ever. Not to mention the offset of the pandemic, which has fuelled a mental health crisis, with many unable to access the right support.

Many attractions are unable to open properly, offering only a ‘half-full’ experience.

This then has a knock-on effect on brand loyalty.

Negative experiences and problems will drive customers away faster, tarring the loyalty and love for a brand for years to come.

TribeCX advises businesses to look hard at your customer experience strategy. Listen to your customers and look at customer-centric metrics and the full CX experience.