The value of excellent customer service

Sometimes things should just be assumed, if you don’t allow yourself enough time you’ll be late, if you don’t stay organised you’ll forget things and if you don’t look after your customers you’ll eventually lose them. Everyone in business knows that quality customer service is expected, needed and demanded but a new survey has been released that supports what should be already understood. The difference in this report is that an actual dollar value has been assessed in the amount of lost business.

While I’m not sure what algorithms are in place to concoct the figure a sum of over $330 billion is apparently lost per year. This figure is based upon business lost in the 16 most industrialised nations and represents any business that is transferred to a competitor or canceled outright as a direct result of poor customer service. Greenfield Online have provided the data that should make any business sit up and take notice, as there is a choice in providing superior customer service it is economically the equivalent of turning good commerce away from your own door. Worth considering also is that many surveys have shown that an individual customer or indeed a large client is at least quite likely to cease business with a service provider over a single incident of poor customer service. That fact must be taken on board especially in such a competitive market as is faced today, customer satisfaction is of greater importance  than profit margins or market share. If a business fails to make that determination promptly the potential for lost revenue is extremely high.

The 8,800 consumers polled provided results that showed a degree of global consistency in rating the importance of customer service but all countries show this as being the number one issue to give their business to someone else. The prime reasons for customers walking away are both interesting to read and easy to relate to:

• Not being able to speak to a live person – automation loop causes anger
• Waiting too long for service
• Having to repeat and reiterate constantly
• Dealing with staff who did not have the skills or training to resolve issues

All too often identifying the cause of customer complaints and dissatisfaction is easier than implementing the solutions. From a service provider standpoint the keys to resolving the issues above are streamlined and achievable. Full consultation with our clients to understand objectives, potential pitfalls, call volumes and trends. Combining that knowledge with hiring the right professional agents means that effective and efficient customer service can be provided at all times. The critical missing piece is training, ensure that training provides and enhances the skill set to provide supreme service via active listening for  when things go as planned and also equip your staff with effective decision making abilities for the inevitable situations when problem resolution is needed. Providing your client with the appropriate staffing levels who are trained to listen well and control the call will result in satisfied clients. Don’t let your customer be just another one of those who got away.