There is a huge problem with brands and customer service. The problem stems from the fact that, no matter what they pay, most of their employees don’t care about their job or the customers they’re supposed to serve, and it’s getting worse. Over half of consumers will switch companies over a poor customer service experience. This statistic alone shows the direct impact customer service has on success.
A customer ordered an expensive cooktop at Lowe’s, who said they could deliver within a week. The day before the delivery, with a separate installer already hired, Lowe’s informs her the cooktop is backordered until July. She goes to the store, and the manager tells her he will get her the product she ordered within a week. Once again, she receives a call from customer service saying the product is back-ordered until August.
An order for Interenet installation is placed with Xfinity. However, the customer changed some products on the order and somehow the order is cancelled and the tech never shows up to install his Internet. After chatting with an agent online she promises installation the next day between 1-3PM . Once again nobody shows up and when he calls Xfinity they tell him they see no pending installations. After talking for more than 45 minutes they finally promise an install date but he’s not confident they will show up. When I talked to hime he was beyond upset and missed two days of work waiting for a tech to show up.
Welcome to the era where people working in customer service are failing customers.
Working in customer service is not easy, but unless brands get it right, they will lose a lot of potential business. The people who talk to customers are your brand and they’re extremely important to yout company.
Customer service is important because it inspires customer loyalty and makes employees’ jobs easier. This, in turn, helps businesses grow. By providing great customer service, organizations can recover customer acquisition costs, retain talent, and foster brand loyalty.
Customers don’t just hope that brands will deliver superb customer service — they expect it. What’s more, their expectations are rising. Today, more than 65% of people expect more from customer service than they did three to five years ago.
Fail to provide customers with a superior customer service experience, and they will go elsewhere — even if it means paying more for a similar product. Almost three-quarters of consumers say they have spent more to shop with a company that delivers superior customer service. 83% of consumers agree that good customer service will turn them from one-time shoppers into lifers.
So why is good customer service so hard? People don’t want to work in that department even if they’re paid well. When a business is guilty of two negative experiences, 76% of customers are done. That is why customer service is so important and why the pressure’s on you to do what you can to prevent customer service-related attrition.
In a world where your target customers are bombarded left, right, and center with advertisements from businesses similar to yours, why would they choose yours? Is there something that makes your brand stand out and will influence customers to come to your business?
Every business has its unique selling proposition. It could be low prices, premium quality goods, or logistics. If your business still needs one, you can use service excellence to help your brand stand out. Service excellence will make your customers feel valued and bring in more customers.
60% of customers stop doing business with a company after a bad customer experience. 67% of these customers can be prevented from leaving if the problem is resolved in the first interaction. That means that service excellence will ensure your customers stay. It will also help your business acquire your competitors’ customers.
For customer service to be a competitive advantage, your brand should focus on it in its marketing messages and then back it up.
Unless brands monitor and hire good customer service people, they’re going to lose customers. It’s that simple.
