The Cost of Bad Customer Experience

Customer service is the hot topic every holiday season. It only takes a moment of something going south (sometimes literally! Where did that package end up?) for customers to start calling and tweeting. When customers can’t get immediate answers on their purchases, or feel like their problems are being ignored due to exasperated representatives or long hold times, all holiday cheer is out the window. And with that cheer goes the positive view of your brand. Not only that – a recent study from NewVoiceMedia cites that businesses are losing $62 billion a year through poor customer service.

NewVoiceMedia works with customer support departments of companies in more than 128 countries, and interviewed more than 2,000 adults from the United States to discover that a bad customer experience comes at a high cost. Forbes dove into the study, and noted that 49% of people who have a poor customer experience report switching providers afterwards, and 67% switched more than once.

Survey participants cited the main reasons for leaving a brand or switching providers were that they felt unappreciated. They encountered unhelpful/rude staff, were redirected to multiple agents, were not able to speak to a person on the phone, were not able to get answers, and were put on hold for too long.

Frustrations with customer service span age gaps as well, as baby-boomers and millennials agree that they would switch to another company because of poor service. While those in the 55 or older range were the least likely to leave for another brand, 27% were ready to change brands. Millennials (ages 25 to 34 years old) were harsher than their parents, with a whopping 62% ready to abandon a brand thanks to their customer service. Forbes further notes that if you do not provide a good customer service experience, someone else out there is going to gain half of your existing customers.

It’s not just about phone calls either. Your customers can reach you on multiple channels. If your company is truly Omnichannel, there is no reason for them not reach you through chat, email, or social media. Since customers can contact your brand quickly, they often feel that their complaints about a bad experience should be addressed just as fast. While $62 billion is a staggering number, there is one thing no amount of money can buy: Your brand reputation. Losing the trust and loyalty of your customers can not only cost you their business, but that of their friends and family in their social networks. Think of it this way: It’s like getting coal in your Christmas stocking, year after year after year, no matter how truly good and nice your brand may be. Once you’re on a customer’s “naughty” list, you stay there.

In the overwhelming holiday period, your company deserves the best customer retention strategy possible. Seeking alternative methods for your customer service solutions, like the Arise Platform as a Service, is an opportunity to bring back holiday cheer, and keep it all year long. Make sure you stay off the naughty list before you ever have a chance to be put on it. Your customers deserve the best gift this holiday season; complete, flexible, quality customer care on every platform and channel.