How Effective is Customer Service Today, Really?

How good or bad is the customer service you receive? I know it depends on the company and even the person. Yet, overall, how would you rate the customer service delivered by the companies you encounter?

Check out these statistics from research on what’s happening. Then give a rating…

• 50% of service agents fail to answer customer questions appropriately.
• 66% of customers went to a competitor due to bad service.
• 70% of the buying experience is based on the way the customer feels they are being treated.
• 73% of customers cite incompetent and rude customer support.
• 75% of customers say it takes too long to reach a live person for help.
• 78% of customers ended a business relationship due to bad service.
• 80% of the daily one million customer service tweets are negative.
• 86% of customers will not buy from a company with negative online reviews.
• 87% of companies are at elementary levels related to the quality of their customer experience.
• 89% of customers who experience poor service will leave a brand.
• 90-95% of service problems are management related according to Deming, Juran and Crosby.
• 95% of unhappy customers tell others and will tell three times as many people as happy customers.
• 96% of customers don’t actually tell a company about their complaints, and 25% of customers have some level of complaint at any one time.

So what is your overall rating? Feel free to leave a note it in the comments, or a message about bad or good experiences with companies.

April is International Customer Loyalty Month. Why isn’t every month customer loyalty month since the customer has the power? The American Customer Satisfaction Institute (ACSI) has been rating service since 1994. The overall rating was 74.2 at the end of that year. As of the 4th quarter 2016, with over 500 companies included, it’s 76.8. That is only a 3.5% improvement in 22 years. Now this fluctuating a bit from quarter to quarter. What’s astounding to me, considering all of the money and emphasis related to customer loyalty, it that little has changed in the customer’s perception. While on one hand this is bad news. On the other hand, for companies that know the lucrative link between employee engagement and customer engagement, it is superb news! It means more market gains for them.

Isn’t it time that companies and employees alike renew their commitment to the highest levels of quality and service?

Want to learn how to serve the customer better as an organization? Check out this whitepaper: Creating Sustainable Customer Loyalty and Sales Growth.

Maybe you want to enhance your individual skills, see Rick’s book, Superstar Customer Service.