Guest Blogger Mike Betzer: Customers Want to be Heard... Are you Listening?
You don't have to be Dr. Phil to understand the importance of "listening" to maintain a healthy relationship, but is this a courtesy you apply to the relationships with your customers? More than a third of them don't think so. According to the 2010 Convergys Consumer Scorecard research, 39 percent of customers surveyed said they do not believe that "companies generally listen to and act on customer feedback." Add to that another 45 percent who feel that companies do not "have a good understanding of what customers really experience in dealing with them" and what we have here is a failure to communicate.
It's not as if consumers aren't trying to tell us what they want. Consumers are increasingly more vocal about their service experiences. In our 2010 research 57 percent of customers said they have had a bad experience with a company, nearly identical to the 56 percent reported in 2008; however, our recent findings show that 66 percent of those who have had a bad experience contacted the company about the experience, a significant jump from the 58 percent who responded in the same way in 2008. This increase means companies had better have the systems in place to efficiently listen to their customers directly and indirectly (through social media channels), decide which customers require immediate attention, and engage those customers to resolve their issues.
In the past we have warned of the dangers of silent attrition, but vocal attrition is just as big of a problem, if not bigger. Our research found that 44 percent of customers who had a bad experience stopped doing business with that particular company. Of those who first voiced their displeasure to the company about the experience, 47 percent were still unsatisfied enough to take their business elsewhere. As for those silent deserters, 74 percent said they did not contact the company because they didn't think the company would take action, 41 percent said there was no convenient way to do so, and 17 percent felt the company didn't want the feedback.
Listening to your customers has come a long way from the days of the suggestion box. Today, companies must be aware of the unique wants, needs, and desires of differing customer segments and be able to fulfill these needs through a variety of different channels. Although 73 percent of customers still turn to live phone agents for fast, reliable issue resolution, other service channels are gaining popularity. Some 43 percent of customers surveyed listed "live Web chat" as one of their top two service channel preferences, and touch-tone and speech-activated solutions are on the rise, particularly among the younger, tech-savvy Millennial generation. These young consumers are also helping to usher in what will be the next generation of service by embracing text messaging, social media, and smart phone applications as customer service tools.
The secret to delivering a superior customer service experience isn't really a secret at all. Your customers are already telling you what they want--all you have to do is listen.
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About the Author: Mike Betzer is president, relationship technology management, for Convergys
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