Majority of Consumers Stop Buying After Bad Customer Service

5/3/2013

More than half of consumers (52%) have stopped buying from a company after having a bad customer service experience, according to a Dimensional Research study for Zendesk. Nearly all respondents (95%) have had a good customer service experience when dealing with a midsized company, and the majority (54%) have also had at least one bad experience.

When asked what makes a customer experience good, people are most likely to cite quick resolution of their issue and a pleasant interaction with the service representative. Customers are most turned off by having to speak to people to get their problems resolved, as well as by unpleasant behavior.

Almost eight in 10 consumers (78%) who have had positive customer service interactions say the experience changed their behavior in some way, such as recommending the products or services to others (44%) and purchasing more products or services from the company (42%).

More than nine in 10 consumers (96%) who have had negative customer service experiences changed their behavior toward the companies as a result. More than four in 10 (44%) recommended that other people not buy from the company, and 42% switched to a different company’s products or services.

More than half of Americans (54%) have shared information with others about their bad customer service experiences more than five times, while a third (33%) have shared their good experiences this often. Almost six in 10 (58%) say they’re more likely to tell others about their customer service experiences (whether good or bad) now than they were five years ago.

Source: “Customer Service and Business Results: A Survey of Customer Service from Mid-Size Companies,” April 2013, Dimensional Research for Zendesk. Dimensional Research, Diane Hagglund, Founder, 355 Olive St. W., #201, Sunnyvale, CA 94086; 408-991-9001; dimensionalresearch.com. Zendesk, Bill Macaitis, CMO, 989 Market St., #300, San Francisco, CA 94103; 415-418-7506; contact@zendesk.com; www.zendesk.com. Price: Available online at no charge.

© 2013 Business Valuation Resources, LLC (BVR). May not be reproduced without written consent of publisher

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