Thanks to Jon Ferrara of Nimble for sharing an article that pointed to this interesting infographic from Sage in the UK (software for business). I couldn’t agree more with their supposition: “Improve customer service, increase sales.” And the statistics they share highlight quite nicely their conclusion: ‘Better customer service = improved bottom line.”
Here are a few of them:
- 86% will pay more for great customer service
- 40% will buy more when they experience great customer service
- over time great customer service generates loyal customers, and loyal customers are worth up to 10X the amount they initially spend
Of course, when you don’t provide great customer service to all of your customers, and not just a select few, the story is not a pretty one. Especially in our social media driven world.
- 20% of your dissatisfied customers will use social media to air their grievances; 46% for those aged 24 and under
- 78% of consumers are likely to walk away from buying because of poor customer service
- 89% of consumers who experienced bad customer service are likely to go to a competitor
The truth is that every business will mess up or get it wrong from time to time. Usually that isn’t the problem. The problem is how we deal with any problems. Businesses can turn a bad experience into a good one by handling complaints well. And when we handle a problem in a way that pleases our customer, the Sage statistics say that about 22% of them will post a positive comment online about our brand!
As a small business owner the way I treat my customers, in every area, has a direct impact on my bottom line. Customer service has always been a big deal to me. I expect it from those I do business with and I work hard to deliver it to my customers by providing timely, professional, consistent, reliable, trustworthy service to them. And doing this improves my job satisfaction too, not to mention my bottom line!
This infographic was produced by sage.co.uk
