It pays to put the customer first. A recent Customer Rage Survey by ASU’s W.P. Carey School of Business concluded that companies across the country risk nearly $313 billion in future sales due to poor customer-service practices.
The survey found only 3 percent of dissatisfied customers would consider buying from a company that had poor service, in contrast to 68 percent of those satisfied with their service.
Mary Jo Bitner conducted the survey and says she hopes companies see the economic importance of customer care.
“We’d like to raise the attention of companies so that they understand the value of handling complaints well,” Bitner said. “And then for customers, we hope that they also gain because their complaints will be handled more effectively.”
Companies selling cable, computer and telephone services received the most complaints.
Since the last survey in 2015, Bitner said the amount of people reporting customer problems rose by 2 percent, while the number of people feeling rage toward customer service fell over 10 percent.
The survey also found that automated messaging systems seem to agitate customers rather than aid them.
“Often those cause them to have to come in again, make another phone call, try again, not get to the right place in the first try,” Bitner said. “People don’t like those and thus we assume that it’s affecting their level of satisfaction.”