5 Reasons Customers May Never Shop with You Again

It’s safe to say that today’s digital world has greatly empowered consumers. As a result, customer expectations have never been higher; at the same time, if those expectations are not met, the implications for your business are grave.

According to a recent study, when provided with poor customer service, 51 percent of respondents said they would never use the offending company again. What’s more, 38 percent said they would change suppliers immediately, and 19 percent said they would post a complaint publicly on social media.

These are interesting statistics, but what are the main reasons for so many disgruntled customers taking such drastic measures? And what can you do to stop them?

1. Your business lacks visibility over the customer journey. 

While technology has undoubtedly played an empowering role for consumers, in many cases, it has also created a “digital divide.”

Today, potential customers can research a product on their smartphones, visit a physical store to take a closer look, and then use a tablet or desktop to finally make the purchase. In between, some customers might even ask a question on a business’s social media page or call a contact center for more information.

In short, new technologies are enabling customers to shop across an ever-expanding number of channels. The downside for businesses, however, is that it is now more difficult to deliver the consistent service that consumers expect.

Solution: Customers are engaging with businesses via channels such as social media more and more. However, 58 percent of respondents to our recent survey on customer service said they still prefer to use the telephone to communicate with a business. Furthermore, 70 percent suggested they found calling a business the quickest way to resolve an issue.

Considering these figures, ensuring your business has a contact center geared toward delivering excellent customer service over the phone remains fundamental to your success.

2. Your hold times are too long.

We’ve established how important it is for your business to deliver excellent customer service over the phone. But what else can you do to ensure your contact center is working for and not against you?

According to our survey, respondents were willing to wait 10 minutes on hold. When split by gender, women are slightly more patient and are prepared to wait 12 minutes on hold. Men, however, will only wait for 10 minutes before hanging up.

Either way, this suggests that you don’t want your customers to be waiting on the other end of a phone for too long to speak to somebody – because it will only be so long before they hang up and consider switching to one of your competitors.

The solution: Integrating all your communication channels can help increase the efficiency of your business’s contact center. In turn, this will allow your business to benefit from reduced call handling times, and your agents will be able to answer additional calls more quickly.