Good customer service drives repeat business, which is the key to company growth. Bad customer service carries much more significance. Companies with a bad customer service reputation portray an image of poor quality, carelessness, and disregard for their customers. Not only is this harmful when it comes to attracting new customers, but it also negatively impacts customer retention (which we all know is worth its weight in gold). Bain & Company recently reported that a 10% increase in customer retention levels can result in a 30% increase in the value of the company. Furthermore, the cost of acquiring new customers is much higher than the cost of retaining or upselling customers you have already converted. If that does not drive you to keep your customers happy, what will?
Happy Customers Are the Best Form of Advertising
The happier your customers are, the more influential they become to prospective customers. Satisfied customers are often your best advertisers, which is why influencer marketing is gaining such incredible momentum. Your customers are likely similar to their network in terms of demographics and interests, which means their recommendations for products carry a significant amount of weight. A 2015 survey conducted by Experticity revealed that “the majority of consumers ranked family or friends (81 percent), online reviews (76 percent) and third-party experts (70 percent) as their trusted sources when making a buying decision.” This statistic alone signifies the very importance of customer service to a business. –Check out this customer service infographic from Zendesk for more interesting stats.– After a certain amount of time collecting happy customers and social proof, your company may not need to spend much on advertising. You may even find that your brand credibility and satisfaction rates dramatically increase simultaneously. Isn’t that the dream for all companies?
Positive Customer Experiences Are a Competitive Advantage
Following customer happiness, your competition should be your next largest priority and customer service plays a major role in one company’s success over another’s. In fact, Gartner predicts that “by 2017, 89% of marketers expect customer experience to be their primary differentiator.” That is HUGE. Identifying strong differentiators is a cornerstone of brand building, and making sure your customer service is up to snuff is an easy way to get ahead of the competition. This is not just about the sales process, either. Product returns are a large part of the customer experience, accounting for 8% of all sales, or $260 billion dollars annually in 2015, according to the National Retail Federation.
How Can You Improve Your Customer Service?
Great customer experience starts from inside your company. If you want to up your customer service game, try empowering your employees with the tools they need to make returns simple for them and your customers. According to Gartner, good companies have “the right people, organizational and technology strategies to motivate their customer service employees to perform at their highest level.” This could mean investing in self-service tools or providing automation when possible to simplify your product service operations. Whatever your needs may be, SupportSync is here to help. We offer uncomplicated, customer-centric customer service tools along with a robust returns management system to help your business thrive.
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