Listen, Measure, Act: Feedback in Waste Management

Customer loyalty in Waste Management:
hard to earn, easy to lose

Research reveals that the waste management industry is a highly competitive landscape where customers actively and readily switch waste management providers if their business needs are not met. Rather than adopting a “set and forget” mentality, they are willing to move on to a new provider if they find one that better meets their requirements. Consider the following data points:

• 7 out of 10 B2B organisations review their waste management contracts at least every two years, and subsequently,
• The average tenure of customers in our research was less than two years.

So, what are customers looking for in their waste and recycling providers? What factors drive their decision-making?

From our research, we have identified four key factors influencing brand consideration:

• Service reliability (84%), value for money (83%), a customer-focused approach (81%), and ease of working with the provider (80%) ranked as the most important selection criteria.
• Conversely, global expertise (37%) and brand prestige (36%) were significantly less important when selecting a waste and recycling service provider.

These insights underscore why measuring, understanding, and acting on customer feedback is critical to meeting customer expectations and reducing churn.

Measurement: in key moments of the customer journey

From the very first interaction a potential customer has with your brand—long before they sign a service agreement—you should be measuring their experiences across all customer touchpoints.

A key goal for any successful organisation should be to deliver a seamless, single-view customer experience—regardless of which business unit is delivering the service. Customers don’t differentiate between departments; to them, every interaction contributes to their overall perception of your brand.

Key areas to measure for CX success:

✅ Digital channels – Your website is often the first touchpoint for potential customers searching for a waste management partner. If they can’t find what they need quickly, they may move on to a competitor—without you even knowing. Additionally, when existing customers use your digital channels for self-service, do you understand their intent and needs? Measuring customer experiences across digital platforms can reveal new business opportunities, reduce customer effort, improve accessibility, and ease the burden on customer service teams.

✅ Customer feedback & complaints data – Looking inwards at your operational data and customer suggestions & complaints data can uncover key themes and key relationships along your customer’s journey affecting their experiences. Often, a minor adjustment in one area of the customer journey can significantly impact overall satisfaction and retention.

✅ Contact centre interactions – Your frontline teams provide real-time data on query resolution, collection timeliness, and responsiveness—all key retention factors. Analysing this data alongside customer feedback helps validate insights, prioritise investments, and drive improvements.

Reducing churn: building loyalty to prevent customer loss

The high rate of contract reviews and short average tenure is indicative that customer churn is a major challenge in the waste management industry. Businesses that do not proactively address customer concerns risk losing them to competitors who better meet their needs.

How to reduce churn through CX:

A structured renewal and exit survey program can help reduce churn and increase contract extensions by identifying improvement areas and addressing customer concerns.

✅ Predictive churn models – Use customer experience (CX) data to identify at-risk accounts and take proactive action to retain them. Analyse feedback trends to address concerns before renewal discussions begin.

✅ Exit Interviews – Capture insights from lost customers to understand why they left and where they went. Not only does this provide competitive intelligence, but it also shows customers you value their input, creating potential re-engagement opportunities down the line.

How to stand out: strategies to build a resilient and trusted brand

With the top three waste management providers holding 50% of the market share, differentiation is critical. Understanding brand perception and market positioning helps attract and retain customers.

How to strengthen your brand reputation:

✅ Benchmark your services: Do you have a clear understanding of how your service compares to your competitors? Benchmarking your services against your direct competitors may open opportunities for investment decision-making and could empower your frontline teams to promote your brand’s strengths as part of their day-to-day servicing.

✅ Showcase your strengths: Identify opportunities to stand out, fix gaps, and improve how the market sees and trusts your business. Do you have eco-friendly practices, community engagements, and responsible waste management solutions that you should showcase to enhance your brand perception and appeal to values-driven customers?

✅ Leverage online reviews – Monitor, respond and analyse customer feedback across social media platforms and act on that feedback. Customers expect businesses to acknowledge and act on their concerns—doing so publicly enhances trust and brand credibility.

Measuring CX identifies opportunities for improvement, while proactive customer engagement and brand reputation management drive retention and growth.