Are You Costing Your Customers Money?
When customers spend money on your services, that's a good thing. When they lose money because of poor service--not so good.
According to TOA Technologies' recent Cost of Waiting Survey, consumers lose both time value and real dollars waiting for in-home appointments. Nearly 70 percent of adults in the United States have waited for deliveries, cable or Internet technicians, utilities, and the like in the past year; waiting on average for about four and a half hours, four times per year--equivalent to about 2.75 billion hours and a cost of more than $750 in lost time annually, the report finds. Additionally, nearly a quarter of respondents lost actual wages waiting for an appointment.
The costs don't stop there. There are costs to the businesses, too. More than 20 percent of respondents switched providers after an extended wait; according to the report, service businesses will lose nearly $720 per year when a customer cancels service or switches providers. There are also additional services costs. Nearly 30 percent of customers leave their homes in frustration; those are appointments that 1) a technician will lose time going to because no one is home, and 2) have the potential added cost of rescheduling. Additionally, about half of respondents called customer service to complain about the wait. There's a cost no contact center manager wants to incur.
That's not all. Customer satisfaction plummets from 60 percent for on-time visits to only 19 percent when a delivery or technician is just 15 minutes late. Considering that, on average, respondents waited an hour and 45 minutes longer than their expected wait time, that's a lot of lost satisfaction. Similarly, 58 percent of customers would recommend companies that show up on time; that drops to just 10 percent when the company is 15 minutes late. What's more, about half complain to friends and 13 percent share their dissatisfaction online after an extensive wait.
"There's a huge disparity between the marks customers give for an on time arrival versus just 15 minutes late," TOA Technologies President and CEO Yuval Brisker noted when we discussed the findings. "What's the cost to these companies' brand equity?" Those costs are potentially significant.
"The study results show that 'do what you say' and keeping customer commitment is key," Brisker added, pointing out that more than 60 percent of respondent feel that these tardy companies don't respect their time. "Companies that make commitments and keep them maintain brand loyalty and satisfaction. Perception plummets for those that don't. All companies should heed that message."
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