Shep Hyken of Forbes points out several ‘frightening statistics’ in the world of customer service — something that all leading businesses must master at one point or another. In his piece, Hyken’s focuses less on the impact of customer retention and more on the monetary impact of poor customer service.
As products and services become more technologically advanced, the need for customer service has only increased. This realization is ultimately what led Tim Cook to offer free technical support to all business and consumer customers at Apple.
Hyken estimates that businesses worldwide are losing $62 billion dollars in revenue yearly as a result of poor customer service. He also points out that 67% of individuals surveyed in this dataset reportedly switched business products or services due to poor customer service. “Another interesting stat was that the baby-boomer generation (55 or older) were least likely to switch, with only 27% indicating that they would switch as a result of poor service.” Additionally, “of the 25- to 34-year-olds, referred to as the millennial generation, 62% were willing to switch.
How do you prevent this from happening to your business? Hyken recommends putting a system in place to continuously keep up with the customer-company relationship. He also explains that “what customers want is simple,” and highlights them below:
- Customers want an easy experience.
- Customers want to deal with knowledgeable people.
- Customers want a friendly experience.
- Customers want speedy service and a quick response.
- Customers want consistency.
Please find the full Forbes story here.