A J.D. Power cross-industry report titled, "Achieving Excellence in Customer Service" identifies 40 brands as J.D. Power 2011 Customer Service Champions based on customer feedback attesting to their service excellence.

"To be good in any industry, it makes sense to look at the best practices across industries," according to Gary Tucker, senior vice president of global services and emerging industries at J.D. Power and Associates. "Every day, consumers interact with companies from a myriad of industries. Invariably, they compare the quality of these service experiences. Industries and companies should be doing the same if they expect to keep pace in today's increasingly competitive environment."

According to Tucker, companies that have successfully weathered the economic storm are those that have in place a business strategy of service excellence and recognize that delivering high-quality service is a powerful differentiator in the face of changing market conditions.

Brands named as J.D. Power Customer Service Champions are as follows:

Brands that receive the J.D. Power Customer Service Champions designation are among the top 5 percent of more than 800 evaluated brands, based on their performance in five key areas identified as the J.D. Power 5 Ps: People, Presentation, Price, Product and Process. J.D. Power Customer Service Champions not only excelled within their respective industries, but also stand out when evaluated across multiple industries.

"Today's consumers expect companies to do it all and have the right people, the right presentation, the right price, the right product and the right process," according to Tucker. "Brands identified as J.D. Power Customer Service Champions are getting all of these things right. Some are even outperforming the best of their peers in meeting heightened customer expectations."

Among customers of brands designated as J.D. Power Customer Service Champions, 62 percent said they "definitely would" recommend the brand to family and friends, while just 23 percent of customers of other companies included in the report said the same.  Additionally, 58 percent of customers of J.D. Power Customer Service Champions said they "definitely would" repurchase products or services from those brands, compared with just 36 percent of customers of other brands included in the report. 

The J.D. Power special report, "Achieving Excellence in Customer Service," is based on customer feedback and opinions and perceptions of more than 800 companies in more than 20 industries, gathered from U.S. J.D. Power studies conducted between 2000 and 2010.  The Customer Service Champion designation is based on data from studies conducted in 2010.

Finbarr O'Neill, president of J.D. Power and Associates, will be presenting additional findings from the "Achieving Excellence in Customer Service" report at The Conference Board Customer Experience Leadership Conference, taking place in New York, N.Y. on March 23 and 24.