Five Astonishing Facts about your Customers
1. What percent of dissatisfied customers do not complain to you
about discourteous or indifferent customer service?
a - 48%
b - 65%
c - 78%
d - 96%
The answer is (d) a whopping 96%. Most unhappy customers do not complain, they simply take their business elsewhere.
96% of dissatisfied customers do not complain to you! Why is that? Is it because generally people don't like to cause a fuss or make a scene. Is it simply because they are avoiding the stress of confrontation? Maybe because people are not confident to express negative feelings or criticism because it makes them feel bad to do so. Maybe the staff do not look approachable and the manager is not showing himself to be available at front of house. Or maybe it's simply because you have not provided the means for your customers to do so. When it comes to consumer contentment, never mistake silence as satisfaction. In order to deliver exceptional service, we have to create the means for customers to complain to us. Bill Gates said "Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning." If Customers do not tell you what they find unsatisfactory how will you ever improve your offering? The result is not only a lose-lose situation for the customer and the business, but another unhealthy injection of stress into the lives of all involved parties.
2. Of those customers who do complain, what percent is likely to return to that business again?
a - 50%
b - 70%
c - 80%
d - 90%
The answer again is (d) 90% of the 4% of dissatisfied customers who do complain are doing so because they care and want to continue to do business with the organisation.
When complaints are handled effectively they can turn a dissatisfied customer into your greatest ambassador! Complaints are like gold - you should treasure them. Complaints provide a feedback mechanism that can help your organizations rapidly and inexpensively strengthen your service style and market focus. Most importantly, complaints create a moment of truth when a customer who is deciding whether to return can be made even more loyal. Thank the customer for complaining; he/she has given you an opportunity not only to keep their business, but to learn from the feedback and improve on your service delivery. Studies show that repeat customers typically spend more money, generate larger transactions, refer more customers, and buy a broader range of products than one-time shoppers.
3. How much more money does it take to find a new customer instead of getting more business from an existing one?
a - twice as much
b - three times as much
c - four times as much
d - over five times as much
(d) Estimates show that it costs 5 to 10 times as much to generate business from new customers as it does to get more business from existing customers. Some businesses receive almost 100% of their new business from existing satisfied customers and the referrals they make to others. Beware the 'relationship gap' Look after your existing customers, recognise them by name, reward them for their loyalty to you and let them know how much you value their business. Does your business offer Service or Servility? Are your staff stuck in the old-fashioned 'upstairs-downstairs' way of serving your customers? Or do they actually have what it takes to truly 'WOW!' them? Competition these days is stronger than ever and if your customers don't like the way your staff are treating them, they will simply go to the next establishment. Nowadays it's no longer enough to employ staff with the greatest technical experience or the highest degree, these days companies are demanding social awareness and interpersonal skills. They have started to realise that the most valuable aspects of jobs are the most essentially human tasks: sensing, judging, creating, and building relationships. Your staff need to learn how to 'read' your customers; how to pre-empt what they may need next; how to interact with a customer in a way that makes them feel so special, they won't ever have to look for alternate venue. Apart from being loyal customers themselves, they will also spread that all important word of mouth recommendation!
4. A dissatisfied customer will tell how many people, outside the
company, about poor service received?
a - two or three people
b - four to six people
c - seven to eight people
d - over nine people but as many as 20.
A dissatisfied customer who has not been given the means to complain and who leaves your establishment with unresolved issues will tell over nine people, but as many as 20, about the poor service he/she has received. You have to deliver much more good service to outweigh the possible negative consequences of bad service. Before the internet we spoke of the '250 Rule'. The 250 Rule referred to the fact that everyone knows 250 people in life who could possibly be influenced by just one bad customer experience. Nowadays though, nowadays we have Facebook, Twitter, YouTube - if you brush me off or rub me up the wrong way nowadays, I can tell 10,000 people!
5. What is the biggest single reason why a business loses customers?
a - new competition
b - indifference of one employee
c - word of mouth
d - dissatisfaction with the product
The answer this time is not (d) but (b). The biggest single reason why a business loses customers is down to the indifference of one employee! Every individual within a company can make a significant impact, not only on customer experience, but also on the company's service reputation in the marketplace. This means that if 99 of your staff are treating me well and offering me a good level of customer service and yet just one is rude to me or fails to meet my expectations, then sadly it may be down to this one experience on which I base my impression of your organisation. If my very first impression of your organisation is a bad one, maybe through an initial telephone or email contact, then I have already decided not to gift you with my business so no chance of being satisfied or dissatisfied with your product. People buy from people they like. Research tells us that 83% of customers buy because they like the person serving them and likewise it's the people-to people connections that differentiate a customer's experience.
So what's the most beneficial and cost effective way to measure your
customer service?
Customer service feedback surveys are the most easy and inexpensive route to understanding what drives customer loyalty, however, going about it incorrectly can actually drive down customer satisfaction, customer loyalty, draw invalid or incorrect conclusions and end up a plain waste time and money. Professional external mystery shoppers provide an excellent opportunity for your staff to gaze into a mirror and see their customer service flaws in a way that doesn't put your business at risk. Pick your company carefully however - large organisations serving thousands of companies will be using a tick-box approach which tells you nothing more than your own inhouse silent customer. Also they may be undertaken by a college student
who has the ability to complete an on-line questionnaire and the desire for £10.00 beer money, but lacks any real-life experience of customer service! A comprehensive narrative report which tells the customer story from initial enquiry through to any post visit contact is of the greatest investment.
Spider on the Wall Ltd
Jules Murray Owner/Director: The idea for Spider on the Wall Ltd was born whilst I was sitting in a very reputable London hotel restaurant. I'm a fanatical 'people-watcher' and I have an unassailable talent for watching customers and knowing instinctively how they feel emotionally about that which they are experiencing. As a Service Excellence Assessor and a Customer Service Specialist with over 20 years experience, I gain more valuable information from nonchalantly chatting to staff and watching customers than reading a thousand research reports. Thinking at the time, 'I bet the Manager wishes he was a fly on the wall right now...' my Company was born. Most people think of flies as noisy, dirty creatures, whereas the Spider is industrious, watchful and incredibly skillful. She can weave a very intricate web whilst remaining invisible and discreet at all times. So the name 'Spider on the Wall' was settled upon. Spider on the Wall work internationally with airlines, hotels, holiday resorts, restaurants, retail outlets, independent schools, call centres and health clubs.
What's unique about Spider on the Wall Ltd Mystery Shopper reports?
Spider on the Wall mystery shoppers are service professionals. All reports are completed by myself or one of my small resource of handpicked professionals who have either spent their career sourcing the best people for MDs and CEOs or have been business owners themselves.
The report is a comprehensive, fact-finding narrative which relays a 'true' customer experience. We know through years of experience that everything stems from good Customer Service - EVERYTHING; from a client's first impression of your organisation to each and every ongoing experience. This is not intuitive - this is instinctive, it is not something you can teach a customer of your organisation, it is something he absorbs unknowing and unwittingly and is left with either a positive or a negative feeling about that which he has encountered.
In order to obtain a 'real' view of your staffs' commitment you need to see the whole picture; from the Customer's Experience.
Spider on the Wall Ltd work in unison with the Client to design a specific and bespoke undertaking and an ethical measuring system on which we can examine your staff's performance levels.
We will also be on-hand to assist with the feedback of the reports, ensuring that there is a constructive delivery with acknowledgment of responsibility and a wealth of motivational factors as well as the necessary key skills to address poor performance alike.
Whatever findings we unearth from our Mystery Shopping experience we are able to remedy with bespoke, corrective training designed to address and improve those areas.
