Washington, D.C. — For the third year in a row, the U.S. Mint leads all government agencies in ratings of customer satisfaction according to the 1997 American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) issued by the National Quality Research Center (NQRC) at the University of Michigan School of Business.
Moreover, if the United States Mint were a private sector firm, it would have ranked second among the 200 companies included in the ACSI. The Mint posted an ACSI score of 86 (out of a possible 100), while Mercedes–Benz of North America led the index with a score of 87. The Mint’s score was matched by one other firm, the H.J. Heinz Company.
Each year the National Quality Research Center surveys more than 50,000 consumers, measuring their responses against six different quality indexes and rating the government agencies and private companies they do business with on a scale of 0 to 100. One of the broadest–based, comprehensive surveys of industry trends, the ACSI is a popular tool with corporate managers seeking a reliable method to gauge customer satisfaction, deemed critical to retaining customer loyalty and sustaining profitability.
In each of two previous ACSI surveys, the Mint has led the seven government agencies surveyed with a score of 85. Furthermore, the ACSI survey reveals that the Mint’s customer satisfaction ratings have resisted the national trends among consumers. “Benchmarked against other companies and agencies, the Mint’s numismatic and commemorative coin operation has countered the trend of declining satisfaction in the consumer economy,” the NQRC reports. “While satisfaction with the Mint has held steady at 85–86 from 1995 to 1997, nationally, satisfaction has declined during the same period, from 73.7 to 70.8.”
“The U.S. Mint has set out to prove that government agencies can meet the highest product and customer service standards set by the private sector,” said Mint Director Philip N. Diehl. “For the third year in a row, the NQRC survey has demonstrated that we can compete with the best in business.”
Overall, the ACSI shows that 88 percent of customers who have purchased coins in the past year are expected to return to the U.S. Mint for their next purchase of collector coins. According to the NQRC, Mint customers are demanding consumers, maintaining very high expectations for the quality of products they receive, further emphasizing the Mint’s success in fulfilling customers’ needs.