Can you think back to when you had a bad customer experience? Did something to come to mind immediately? Memories are tied to emotions, and we tend to recall both really negative and really positive experiences, because they are tied to angry and happy emotions, respectively. It takes twelve positive experiences to make up for one negative experience. Yes, twelve. Customer service requires companies to be proactive versus reactive. A company should constantly hold itself to certain standards and should continue to improve its current customer service.
Because of this customer service affects your bottom line. According to the infographic below, it is seven times more expensive to acquire a new customer than to keep a new one. In today’s competitive landscape and availability of mass information, it’s easy for customers to find other alternatives to your product or service, and usually, those alternatives are your direct competitors. In fact, 89% of customers who had a poor experience make their next purchase from a competitor according to Harris Interactive. You are basically shooting yourself in the foot when you provide bad customer experiences, which leads to revenue loss, spending more capital trying to get those customers to return and giving away your revenue to competitors. On a grander scale, U.S. businesses lose an estimated $83 billion annually due to poor experience. See all of the costs associated with bad customer service in the infographic below.
Fortunately, there are many businesses that offer solutions to any customer service-related problem ranging from general solutions to niche unique solutions. You have companies like Zendesk and Salesforce providing platforms to make the customer experience seamless and easy, ultimately raising the standard for Customer Service. Customer service comes down to two fundamentals: accessibility to support and solving an issue in a timely manner. Instead of being reactive to poor customer service provided by your company, you can be proactive and make sure you have the necessary tools to provide a positive experience. You can spend a small fraction of the cost of losing a customer to offer the necessary tools to provide a positive experience.
Offering quick and easy methods for a customer to reach you are easier in theory than in practice. Luckily there are solutions that you can integrate into your companies’ customer service process. If you are looking to offer live chat on your website, companies like Zopim and Olark are available. Here at SightCall, we provide a real-time, live video solution that can be implemented into your current customer service process to see what your customers see. With these types of solutions implemented into your customer service process, your customers are bound to have a positive experience. Can you think back to when you had a positive customer experience?
