Poor Customer Service Costs Companies $75 Billion Per Year, Study Finds

Poor customer service costs U.S. companies $75 billion per year, according to a recent report from NewVoiceMedia. The report states that nearly half—48 percent—of consumers choose a phone call as their channel of choice when reaching out to a contact center, suggesting that frontline employees in the contact center will continue to be key to driving customer loyalty.

The report also found that having a positive emotional connection with a brand or customer service agent has an impact on customer loyalty. More specifically, 86 percent of consumers said that they would be more likely to continue to do business with a company if the felt such a way.

Being able to contact the company through any channel was found to be the top factor in feeling emotionally connected to a brand, with 43 percent of consumers saying so. Interacting with a highly knowledgeable agent was the second most important factor, with 37 percent of consumers saying so. An exciting and fulfilling shopping experience (31 percent), finding the right information on the company website (30 percent), and having a personalized customer service experience (30 percent) rounded out the top five factors.