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According to the new "Customer Experience Report North America 2010" from RightNow and Harris Interactive, the majority of customers-82 percent--will now stop doing business with companies that deliver negative experiences.

Additionally, 79 percent of the 2,217 consumers interviewed who had a negative experience told others about it, 85 percent wanted to warn others about the pitfalls of doing business with that company, 66 percent wanted to discourage others from buying from that company, and 76 percent said word of mouth influenced their purchasing decisions.

The most surprising results from the report are that many consumers said they would pay for better service. Seventy-six percent said they would pay 5 percent or more for a better experience, 55 percent would pay 10 percent or more, and 10 percent would pay 25 percent or more.

With 55 percent of respondents (up from 53 percent in 2009) saying that they recommend a company because of good service, it's critical to focus training your workforce to deliver better experiences that are not only friendly, but tailored to customers' needs and behaviors, as well as reengineering processes and strategies to enhance the customer experience. It could be the single most important element for a company's survival going forward.