I was very interested to read the just-released results from the Global Customer Service Barometer survey of 1,018 consumers conducted by American Express in February of this year. The survey has many excellent takeaways that should be of interest to anyone involved in customer service, and I encourage you to read it for yourself. I’ll take a look at more of the results in future blog posts, but I want to draw your attention now to one of the survey’s more significant findings:
70% of Americans are willing to spend an average of 13% more with companies they believe provide excellent customer service. This is a significant difference from 2010, when 58% of respondents said that they’d spend an average of 9% more at companies providing great service.
But when they were asked whether companies are paying more or less attention to customer service, 60% of respondents believe that businesses haven’t devoted more attention to customer service. And within that group, 26% say that companies have actually decreased their focus on customer service.
Talk about a disconnect!
Here we have evidence that people will spend more money when they experience high-quality service. Yet companies seem to be standing pat or even decreasing their focus on providing quality service (at least in the eyes of customers, but they are the ones who really count, after all).
In the words of Jim Bush, Amex’s Executive Vice President, World Service, “Getting service right is more than just a nice to do; it’s a must do. American consumers are willing to spend more with companies that provide outstanding service, and they will also tell, on average, twice as many people about bad service than they will about good service. Ultimately, great service can drive sales and customer loyalty.”
The message is clear: Don’t view your call center as a cost center. Instead, conceive of it as an opportunity center and act accordingly. Providing excellent customer service can boost your bottom line and differentiate you from the competition.
If you’re outsourcing your inbound or outbound call center requirements, make sure you’re working with a high-quality operation staffed by well-trained agents who are committed to providing top-tier service.
Your brand deserves no less.
