Evidence-Based Approach to Customer Experience Evaluation

Customers' Friend is a structured evaluation and recognition system designed to identify companies that demonstrate strong customer experience and service performance. The program focuses on customer-facing outcomes that can be evidenced through reliable sources, including responsiveness, clarity of customer communication, complaint handling effectiveness, and post-sale support quality. The objective is to translate widely dispersed customer signals into a consistent, comparable assessment using defined criteria, transparent scoring rules, and expert validation.

Scope of the Recognition

Customers' Friend evaluates customer experience performance only. It is not an environmental, ESG, or sustainability label, and it does not assess environmental impact, labor practices, human rights performance, or broader social responsibility claims. The recognition is limited to customer-facing service quality indicators and observable experience outcomes. This scope is designed to support clear consumer understanding and to ensure the program’s claims remain specific, evidence-based, and tied to measurable customer experience criteria.

Overview of the Evaluation Framework

ICERTIAS applies a staged approach that combines nomination, evidence collection, AI-supported analysis, and expert review. Companies are evaluated against predefined indicators and benchmarks using publicly available information wherever possible. The evaluation process is designed to be repeatable and consistently applied across categories and geographies. Nomination does not imply certification. Recognition is granted only when a company meets or exceeds the established benchmark threshold under the documented scoring framework.

Nomination and Eligibility Screening

Companies may enter the assessment pipeline through nomination by consumers, market stakeholders, or ICERTIAS. ICERTIAS may also initiate an evaluation to ensure category relevance and market coverage when sufficient customer-facing evidence exists to support a consistent assessment. Eligibility screening confirms that a company has adequate observable signals for evaluation and that the company falls within an appropriate category and geographic scope for meaningful comparison.

Evidence Base and Source Standards

ICERTIAS prioritizes publicly available sources that reasonably reflect customer experience outcomes. Sources may include customer feedback platforms, consumer protection and regulatory records relevant to customer-facing conduct, credible media coverage tied to service issues, and public customer communications. Evidence is screened for relevance to customer experience indicators and excluded when it is not sufficiently attributable, reliable, or connected to service delivery. The program follows recognized market research principles and applies data handling practices aligned with the ICC and ESOMAR Code.

AI Supported Analysis of Public Signals

Artificial intelligence supports the evaluation by enabling scalable analysis of large volumes of digital content connected to customer experience. Using natural language processing, the AI engine helps classify sentiment, identify recurring service topics, and organize evidence aligned to the program indicators. Typical inputs include reviews from platforms such as Google and Trustpilot, relevant media coverage and public communications, and discussions on social media and forums when they clearly relate to customer service outcomes. AI outputs are treated as structured decision support and are reviewed against the underlying evidence.

Scoring Dimensions and Indicator Structure

Customers' Friend uses a structured scoring system across four dimensions: Reputation, Trust, Communication and Engagement, and User Experience. Each dimension is defined through a set of specific indicators that are scored individually and then aggregated. Scoring is designed to reflect customer-facing performance, not marketing positioning. Each indicator has documented scoring definitions and evidence rules, supporting consistent interpretation and comparability across companies.

Composite Score Calculation and Threshold

Indicator scores are aggregated into dimension scores and then into a composite result. A common representation is:

Dimension score:
Dk=1nk∑i=1nksk,iD_k = \frac{1}{n_k} \sum_{i=1}^{n_k} s_{k,i}Dk​=nk​1​∑i=1nk​​sk,i​

Composite score:
S=∑k=14wkDkS = \sum_{k=1}^{4} w_k D_kS=∑k=14​wk​Dk​, with ∑k=14wk=1\sum_{k=1}^{4} w_k = 1∑k=14​wk​=1

Companies must achieve a minimum composite score of 3.5 out of 5.0 to qualify. This structure supports transparency by making clear how the evaluation translates evidence into an eligibility outcome under defined scoring rules.

Expert Review and Decision Governance

Human oversight ensures nuance and accountability. ICERTIAS experts specializing in customer experience and compliance review AI outputs and underlying evidence to confirm relevance, accuracy, and contextual fit by industry and geography. This review helps reduce misinterpretation, confirm that scoring rules were applied consistently, and validate that inputs are grounded in customer experience indicators. Where available, analysts also review material consumer protection signals tied to customer-facing conduct to support a disciplined decision process.

Use of Company Provided Information

When specific customer experience indicators cannot be reliably obtained through public sources, ICERTIAS may request targeted supporting information directly from the company. Any company provided information is used only if it is verifiable, traceable, and supported by documentation issued or validated by an independent and credible source, such as regulatory records, audited operational reports, or third-party system outputs. Companies confirm that submitted information is accurate and can be verified. Self-declared claims that cannot be substantiated through credible documentation are not used.

Certification, Declaration, and Membership Agreement

Companies that meet the benchmark threshold are invited to formalize their certification status by signing the Customers' Friend Declaration and the Membership Agreement. The Declaration sets customer experience commitments aligned to the program scope, such as transparency of customer communication, responsiveness, and effective complaint handling, and may be updated over time to reflect the program’s customer-facing focus. The Membership Agreement governs certification status, seal licensing, usage rules, and the obligations required to maintain recognition under the program framework.

Seal Use, Monitoring, and Accountability

Certified companies receive detailed guidance on permitted descriptions and correct use of the Customers' Friend certificate and associated visual assets. These guidelines are designed to support consistent communication and reduce the risk of consumer confusion or misrepresentation. ICERTIAS maintains an oversight process to address misuse of the seal or inaccurate representation of certification status. Where misuse is identified, ICERTIAS may require corrective actions and, where applicable, suspend or revoke usage rights to protect program integrity.

The Seven-Step Path to Customers’ Friend Certification

ICERTIAS follows a structured, seven-step methodology designed to ensure rigor, transparency, and alignment with the highest research standards: