In a recent Harvard Business Review OnPoint article, “Stop Trying to Delight Your Customers,” shared four statistics regarding the ripple effect poor customer service has on your business.
- 25% of customers are likely to say something positive about their experience.
- 65% are likely to speak negatively.
- 23% of customers who had a positive interaction with the service told 10 or more people.
- 48% of customers who had negative experiences told 10 or more about it.
(Harvard Business Review OnPoint article by Matthew Dixon, Karen Freeman, and Nicholas Toman)
The moral of the story (in my opinion):
- Dissatisfied customers talk more than satisfied customers.
- Dissatisfied customers do your business no good.
- Dissatisfied customers are bad for your business.
If I had to recommend a quick one-step solution to this problem, it would be simple: Don’t let your unhappy customers walk away unhappy.
So what do I mean by this? Well, there are actually three things, all of which will do wonders for the quality of your customer experience.
1. Request your feedback immediately. If you wait a few days before sending out a customer service survey, you’re increasing the amount of time they have to spread the word about the experience that ruined their day. So talk to them before they leave the building, before they hang up the phone, and before they refuse to participate in a process they’ve decided they don’t have time to do. The quicker you understand what went wrong, the better your chances of redeeming the relationship with your client.
two. Make the last point of customer contact memorable. Customers come into contact with various employees, systems, and services while they’re in your building or on your site, so make sure the last thing they experience is incredibly positive. I’m not suggesting that a good memory can undo a bad experience, but research has indicated that what people remember has a greater impact on them than what they experience (research by Daniel Kahneman), so don’t pass up the opportunity to leave things on a positive note.
3. As much as you can, fix the problem as soon as the customer reports the problem. This may sound similar to n. 1, but the difference is that the n. #1 is about creating an opportunity for customers to give you feedback right away; it’s about quickly capturing their disgruntled critics. This step is about identifying the solution and taking action to resolve the problem. Too many companies tell their customers “We’ll call you when we have an update,” or “We’ll know more about the problem in two weeks,” or “We’ll have an inventory update once we hear from headquarters.” Some of these justifications cannot be avoided, but the goal, where possible, is to get things resolved on the site. Don’t delay solutions when it’s not necessary: for a customer, all problems are urgent. Show them that you take them seriously by doing something about it. right now.
Don’t ignore, avoid or overlook customer concerns – reach out to them immediately to take action-oriented steps that communicate they are a priority. This will minimize the amount of damage they can cause, to your reputation and your bottom line.