We’ve all been there: you’re paying a bill or asking for technical assistance or, more significantly, trying to order something over the phone and the meandering voyage we take en route to speaking to a human just takes forever. That is, if we ever reach a human in the first place. More and more we get autobots which sound human enough but exist just to frustrate us even more: their response are based on keywords or key phrases in our responses.

It all adds up to poor customer service and the retail industry is getting hit hardest of all. According to a recent study conducted by Aspect and Conversion Research it was revealed that 52% of US internet users have stopped doing business with a general retail company due to poor customer service.

Mad as hell

Probably nothing new here. The great thing about poor customer service: it is a great equalizer. It knows no boundaries. The ACR study showed that frustrated responders were similar no matter their age. For example, 54% of millennials said they stopped doing business because of poor customer service. Additionally, 50% of Gen X’ers and 52% of baby boomers felt the same way.

Big or small

The ramifications of poor service aren’t relegated just to big companies.

If you don’t have your finger on the pulse of what constitutes great customer service you can come up just as short with your clients whether it’s just you alone or with a staff of dozens.

According to an article on eMarketer, while more consumers stopped doing business with retail companies because of bad customer experiences, respondents have also stopped doing business with companies in other industries.

And as we mentioned early on, poor service coupled with a customer’s lack of patience results in a serious disconnect. So agents take note: the greatest house in the world means nothing if we don’t treat our clients like gold. Customer backlash means they will go elsewhere and from the looks of things that is already starting to happen!

#CustomerService