Jobs: Dentists know the drill when it comes to customer service

Customer service training firm Results International found 47 per cent of people said they think dentists have a good customer service attitude, compared with 27 per who voted for doctors and 30 per cent for waiters.

People are more than twice as likely to receive good customer service from dentists as they are from bar staff, who were only applauded by one in five of consumers (20 per cent).

Hotel receptionists and hairdressers also performed well in the customer service stakes, receiving nominations from 39 per cent.

However gym employees secured only 9 per cent of the vote and in fact were more likely to be noted for their bad customer service approach by 12 per cent, plunging them into the league of poorest performers.

Other groups more likely to be noted for poor customer service included police, hospital staff, general shop assistants, post office staff and council workers. The latter were voted for by a whopping 40 per cent as having a bad customer service attitude.

Paul Stephenson, MD of Results International, said: “Gym staff operating at the very heart of the leisure sector, often in member-based organisations, should have a strong service ethic running through all they do. It suggests there are some issues with their training or even recruitment, which is causing this service gap, perhaps with people being taken on for their skills but not their attitude.”