Why customer service is critical

If you surveyed your customers or clients, what would they say about your company and its customer service? Customer service is a vital part of any business and plays a large role in customer/client retention. A company that provides great customer service is much more likely to have loyal customers than one that doesn’t. Bad customer service can hurt any type of company, in any industry.

Consider this:

Poor customer service is costly. According to NewVoiceMedia’s Serial Switchers report, U.S. consumers will readily switch from one company to another if their needs aren’t met. Many will switch due to a single poor customer experience! Main reasons for switching: Not feeling appreciated, not getting answers to their questions, rude/unhelpful employees and being passed around to multiple people or otherwise not having their needs met. A low customer retention rate can lead to extra costs for any company.

It takes only one bad experience to ruin a relationship with even the most loyal of customers. And it’s not very easy to win them back. According to one study, 91% of unhappy customers will never come back to the companies they left due to poor customer service. This is especially true in industries with many competitors.

Even if they don’t leave immediately, you’ll have to work hard to keep them over the long term. Research shows that it takes about one dozen positive experiences to make up for just one unresolved negative experience. That’s a lot! It is possible to work things out with an unhappy customer, but that initial experience can never truly be erased.

Bad experiences are shared at twice the rate of positive experiences. When someone has a bad experience with a company, they often share it with other people — in person, over the phone and on social media. Negative experiences are, unfortunately, shared far and wide. You want customers to share positive experiences with your company, not negative ones. The key is to identify — and change — anything that’s creating a negative experience for your customers.

Of course, we’re guessing you know that customer service is essential, but now you have concrete evidence as to why! Share these reasons with your team to keep them motivated to provide the best. Knowing the reasons why will help you and your staff continue to offer the best, friendliest and most empathetic service.