TMCnews Featured Article

If you deliver great service with an excellent, attractively-priced product then you will get more customers and sales.

Sounds common sense. And more Americans are making service as a factor in deciding how much they will spend reports the new American Express Global Customer Service Barometer. Seven in ten Americans (70 percent) are willing to spend an average of 13 percent more with companies they believe provide excellent customer service. This is up substantially from 2010, when six in ten Americans (58 percent) said they would spend an average of nine percent more.

Yet too many companies are not getting the math. The study said that 60 percent of Americans believe businesses have not increased their customer service focus, up from 55 percent in 2010.  Among this group, 26 percent think companies are actually paying less attention to service. At the same time 42 percent said companies are helpful but don’t do anything extra to keep their business while 22 percent think companies take their business for granted.

One of the factors driving customers to distraction—or worse—is the overuse of customer service phrases. The three most notorious, with some 26 percent to 27 percent of the general population most annoyed by them are:

*          “We’re unable to answer your question.  Please call xxx-xxx-xxxx to speak to a representative from xxx team.”

*          “We’re sorry, but we’re experiencing unusually heavy call volumes.  You can hold or try back at another time.”

*          “Your call is important to us. Please continue to hold.”

Customers who are annoyed are putting their money where their mouths are. Sometimes literally. 78 percent of consumers have bailed on a transaction or not made an intended purchase because of a poor service experience. Two in five (39 percent) have threatened to switch to a competitor when they received what they believe is a poor service experience.

Unfortunately contact center agents and retail, hospitality and other in-person service personnel bear the brunt. Some 56 percent of American respondents admit to having lost their temper with a customer service professional.  Those who have done so will express their displeasure in a host of other ways, including insisting on speaking to a supervisor (74 percent) and hanging up the phone (44 percent). And as any agent or supervisor will confirm some of this annoyance is expressed by choice words, as reported by 16 percent of respondents.

And for U.S. companies serving the affluent next-door Canadian market— Canadian shoppers, literally driven by the weak U.S. dollar have been coming across the border both by transportation and virtually--they have to be more on their toes. While Canadians are marginally less likely to spend more than Americans as a result of great customer service--11 percent--more of them have lost their temper with customer service personnel: 61 percent.

The risk for companies is the spread of these experiences via word of mouth, or more accurately words via Facebook (News - Alert), Twitter et al. Americans say they tell an average of nine people about good experiences, but nearly twice as many (16 people) about poor ones – making, says AmEx “every individual service interaction important for businesses.”

For the companies that do the math, the numbers are there. Some 59 percent of Americans would try a new brand or company for a better service experience. Customers who have a fantastic service experience say friendly representatives (65 percent) who are ultimately able to solve their concerns (66 percent) are the most influential. 

Small businesses especially get it. 81 percent of Americans agree that smaller companies place a greater emphasis on customer service than large businesses.

 “There are many who subscribe to the convention that service is a business cost, but our data demonstrates that superior service is an investment that can help drive business growth,” says Jim Bush, Executive Vice President, World Service. “Investing in quality talent, and ensuring they have the skills, training and tools that enable them to empathize and actively listen to customers are central to providing consistently excellent service experiences.”