When making decisions about business services and technology, many business owners make the mistake of focusing only on the bottom-line expense. There can be other hidden costs of poor service in many forms. This includes the time it takes your staff to get support and fix issues if the service doesn’t work reliably.
While cost is certainly important, the customer experience should also be an important consideration. This improves customer retention and reduces hidden internal expenses. According to NewVoiceMedia, American businesses lose $75 billion every year through poor service to their customers.
When you don’t provide good customer experience, you can bet that someone else will — potentially taking half of your customers with them. Bad service can be detrimental in the short-term with abandoned transactions but it can also be damaging in the long-term in terms of loss of repeat business and attracting new customers.
Switching to Another Brand or Provider
Research suggests that 89% of customers who have a bad service experience will switch to a different brand or company. In fact, almost 64% of customers indicate that customer service is more important than price when they are deciding whether they will continue to do business with a company. More than half of consumers are even willing to pay extra to guarantee they receive better service. On average, companies lose $289 per year for every customer relationship they lose to a competitor.
Poor Service Leads to Bad Reviews
Most business owners already know the importance of getting good online reviews. Unfortunately, people are twice as likely to discuss bad customer service experiences as they are to mention good experiences. This translates to online reviews. There is no underestimating the long-term cost of a bad online reputation. 90% of consumers check online reviews before visiting a business and more than two-thirds say online reviews influence their purchasing decisions. Most consumers trust online reviews as much as recommendations from friends.
According to Harvard research, every star increase for a business’s Yelp rating is equal to a 5-9% increase in revenue. For a business with $1 million in annual revenue, the difference between a 3-star and 5-star rating can be $180,000 in lost sales every year.
Poor Service Means Lost Revenue
On average, consumers spend more money with companies that they believe offer great service. According to an American Express survey, two-thirds of consumers say they are willing to spend more when a company offers excellent service. On average, consumers say they will spend 13% more for a great experience. Of course, not everyone is willing to pay more for great service; others simply expect it. 44% of consumers say they expect excellent service when they do business with a company or brand.
Many Customer Complaints Originate in Phone Support
Phone service is a frequently overlooked service for many businesses, but it’s the source of many poor service complaints. Consumers generally don’t want to reach a call center and speak with an inexperienced agent. According to the Consumer Reports National Research Center, 75% of customers think it takes too long to reach a live person when they call a business and half say the agent fails to answer their questions. This isn’t the end of the complaints involving customer service over the phone:
- 70% say they have been transferred to a representative who is wrong or can’t help
- 74% get disconnected and most can’t reach the same representative
- 66% say they are repeatedly asked for the same information
- 61% say the voice recognition system does not work well
- 60% have dealt with pushy salespeople over the phone
There are many ways for businesses to improve the customer experience, including providing multichannel support like online chat and social media, being proactive about responding to questions and complaints, and ensuring excellent service and support over the phone.
Level 365 allows you to make and receive business calls at your computer or over your mobile phone using your office or desk phone number. With our Unified Communications solutions, businesses can enjoy flexibility, mobility, and up-to-date information even when away from the office.
We understand that traditional telecommunications companies do not always have the best reputation for service and support. We understand and have experienced the cost of poor customer support too. Our service includes ongoing support and we answer calls in 15 seconds or less on average. Customers appreciate reaching a live person right away and 98% of our customers also say that we resolved their problem.
Check out our real-time satisfaction metrics.
About Level365:
Level365 offers a complete Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) solution with enterprise voice that is customizable and scalable for your business. Our service provides seamless integration of business communications among desk phones, computers and mobile devices to support remote teams and flexibility for on-site staff. The UC platform extends beyond voice communications with Unified Messaging, Presence, Analytics, Chat/SMS, Cloud Faxing, Business Systems Integration and more. 365 allows you to make and receive business calls at your computer or over your mobile phone using your office or desk phone number.
