I know this is a bold way to start a blog, but you know what? It needs to be said and then dealt with. It’s not about being sensationalistic, but making the point blatantly to get your attention. I know that as a retail food establishment the pressures on you are enormous. I know from personal experience which I will share with you in future blog posts. For today though, I want to focus on customer service and technology.
The introduction of technology in the workplace speeds up interaction and makes for smoother customer service, right?
Well, in many cases that’s wrong. Customers crave old-fashioned, friendly, and informed service over speed. What’s more, the quality of customer service is vital to any company because poor customer service is the number one reason that customers switch to another company.
Nearly 70% of all customers who switch companies switch because of poor customer service.[i] Inadequate customer service doubles down on trouble for a company because it drives business away and into the open arms of their competitor.
Business’s desire to use technology to streamline the customer interaction process has actually sped up the switching process!
Many patrons feel that point-of-sale (POS) technology gives the service representatives an excuse to ignore customers in favor of a screen. The representative may also rely on technology to retrieve information, which makes them appear unknowledgeable about the product or service. These reasons, plus a lack of customized solutions, and/or policy-driven bureaucracy, are the main motivations for service related company switches.
Don’t forget the painful truth – every time someone leaves you it means your competitors gain a new client – OWCH!
The problem is particularly severe in the retail industry, which has the highest customer turnover rate.
In the past year, 19% of people have patronized a different retailer, such as a grocer or department store, because of poor customer service. [ii]
This means that, if you company is retail, it’s likely that poor customer service has sent almost 20% of your business to a competitor. There is not a single company out there that can afford to be giving away business at that rate. Let’s say that your small retail company would net $150,000 in income every year, if you lose patrons due to poor customer service than you are losing upwards of $28,500 a year. That’s $28,500 that you are literally giving away to your competition, you might as well be handing them a $30k check.
The problem is compounded by word-of-mouth on customer disservice.
The average disgruntled consumer tells up to twenty of their friends about their negative experience. Many of those informed will also chose to do business with another company to avoid a repeat of their friends bad experience. If we go back to the original small business example, and take an average of ten friends foregoing a business because of rumors of bad service, the small business in now losing $285,000 a year. That’s negative income, that’s bankruptcy.
So, why aren’t all retail stores bankrupt? It’s because patrons are constantly switching companies in search of better customer service. The only way to break the cycle is have innovative, friendly, and well-informed service that none of your competitors offer to their patrons. Then your business can start collecting all the ‘bad-service’ checks from competitors. Poor customer service may be an easy way to lose a lot of business, but good customer service has the potential to increase your income tenfold.
Want to know how to cash all those checks in?
You’re at the right place – bookmark this blog and stay tuned – we’re going to show you how to do that — EXPONENTIALLY!
[i] http://blog.gartner.com/blog/crm.php
[ii] http://www.redorbit.com/news/technology/186467/poor_customer_service_is_top_reason_consumers_switch_service_providers/
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