Saturday, September 1, 2007

Expectations For Outstanding Customer Service Higher Than Ever

In our last blog entry, we discussed the importance of issue resolution rate to customer satisfaction levels. Another new report, a Harris Interactive study sponsored by RightNow(R) Technologies, also illustrates just how important customer service is to companies: 80 percent of consumers will never go back to an organization after a bad customer experience, up from 68 percent in 2006. That’s a significant percentage jump in just one year.

The report revealed that service is a significant differentiator for companies: 51 percent of consumers cited "outstanding service" as a top reason they continue to do business with a company. Another 60 percent noted "outstanding service" as a top reason they would recommend a company. Not only does great service keep customers, it gets you new ones. A pretty basic idea, but some organizations still don’t get it.

Finally, and most interesting to me, the study found that some consumers feel sick and become outraged after a bad customer service experience with companies. For example:

  • 74% registered a complaint or told others;

  • 47% swore and/or shouted;

  • 13% posted a negative online review or blog entry; and

  • 29% got a headache, felt their chest tighten and/or cried.


  • With such negative physical reactions to poor customer service, it is no wonder that a person would go out of their way to avoid interacting with a company that made them feel this way.

    More information can be found at www.SupportIndustry.com.

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