Continuing with the customer service theme and now that we have talked about why customer service is so vital to the success of a company, let us talk about when customer service goes wrong and the repercussions of bad customer service. Whilst we are all human and it is only normal for small errors to occur or to find clients who are incredibly difficult to deal with, these are usually minor bumps in the road and do not constitute poor customer service.
In 2018, a Cellist named Jingjing Hu boarded her American Airlines flight from Miami to Chicago, she purchased two separate seats, one for herself and one for her $30,000 cello – all of which is in accordance with American Airline’s policy. Before the flight departed Hu was approached by an air hostess and was asked to leave the plane as the cello was too big, she was told she could take the next plane which was leaving in a hour – only they didn’t allow her on the second flight either. She then found herself surrounded by police because the airline staff found her “not understandable”.
While the aforementioned example of terrible customer service is extreme, it is not uncommon. Bad customer service is seen day to day, and as a result costs businesses $62 billion dollars annually. We’ve listed below some of the repercussions for your business associated with bad customer service.
1. A Damaged Reputation:
The reputation of a company is extremely precious, and not something that you want to lose control of. But, particularly on the internet, anytime you have an extended streak of poor customer service, your reputation is the first thing to take a hit. Nowadays, consumers are quick to write negative comments online when they are having a poor business experience. Besides leaving negative comments, consumers are often sharing their grievances on social media for their peers, families, employers and the whole world to see.
2. Your Client Lifetime Value Drops:
By now you should be aware that attracting new clients is typically more costly than retaining existing customers. That is one of the main reasons it is so vital to provide excellent customer service. Were you aware that 9 out of 10 consumers claim they are happy to spend extra to guarantee a positive customer service experience and that as many as 70% of customers will continue to do business with you if you rectify a complaint. On top of that is the fact that you can’t fix what you don’t know about. Negative feedback from your customer is an opportunity to improve something within your business.
3. You Lose Your Best Employees:
Across other aspects of business, poor customer service has negative side effects. Not only are you losing clients, but you are running the risk of losing your best staff. When your company has an issue with customer service, the better workers are expected to take up the slack for the bad employees. This causes burnout and frustration with the people on whom you depend most.
Conclusion
They say any press (or attention) is good press however in the case of negative customer service experiences, not so true. The effects of bad customer service can be debilitating and long lasting. It’s much easier to focus on delivering a service where people will want to come back for more rather than trying to mend a damaged reputation. Put the effort and hard work in from the start and the rewards will follow.
We pride ourselves on our customer service so put us to the test. If you need assistance with bookkeeping, payroll or virtual administration please give us a call on 04 2329199 or leave your details below and we will be in touch.
