More and more Companies are setting customer experience as a top business priority in growing their businesses. Why? A good product at a good price (whereas still very important) will no longer ensure that your business is profitable.
Here are 10 customer service statistics you can’t afford to ignore!
- 57% of customers won’t recommend a business whose website isn’t mobile friendly
Mobile usage is soaring, and is expected to keep on doing so.
- 85% of adult mobile users expect a business’s website to work as well or even better than on a desktop.
- 52% of Internet traffic is now via a mobile device.
- 84% of customer-centric companies focus on the mobile customer experience.
- 42% of British customers switch companies because of bad CX
Customers in the UK feel no compunction about ditching a company that provides them with poor CX. There are numerous elements that contribute to bad CX, and one of the primary ones is if customers feel their concerns or issues are ignored.
It’s therefore crucial to understand your customer’s journey and identify their needs. There are many good software packages that will facilitate this and enable you to assess and improve the experience your customers have with your business.
- Only 35% of customers are willing to wait 30-60 seconds for a response on live chat
Quick responses make the difference between winning and/or keeping a customer, and losing them. A customer might be squeezing a visit to your website into a busy day filled with other demands on their time. They want a hassle-free and almost instantaneous response in order to conclude their business speedily and get on with their day.
Long delays are simply not acceptable to them, which underlines how important it is to get this right. If you can’t do it on your own, it’s time to consider outsourcing your live chat function to an awesome company like Digital Customer Care Company to slash wait times!
- 70% of consumers regard the quality of their CX with brands as crucial
A PWC study established that Consumers regard speed, convenience, friendly service, and helpful employees as key in their customer experience. The companies that ‘get it right’ are companies that prioritise employing technology that provide their customers with these key benefits.
- 65% of US consumers rate CX as more important than impressive advertising
PWC also established that 65% of consumers in the US market rate their own positive CX with a business as more relevant than advertising. This underlines the move away from intensive emphasis on advertising to a greater focus on the delivery of consistently high quality CX.
- Customers who had the best CX spend 140% more than those who had the worst CX
The Harvard Business Review established that customers who had had really excellent CX were likely to spend as much as 140% more than customers who had been exposed to poor customer experiences.
It’s interesting to note here that 49% of buyers make impulse buys after a more personalised customer recommendation, and that 44% will become repeat buyers after such personalised CX.
This makes it all the more crucial to track your customer data with a good customer relationship management programme, or CRM. Offering incentives like customer loyalty programmes have also proved effective in this regard.
- 86% of consumers will pay up to 25% more for better CX
This rather startling statistic is thought-provoking as it impacts business’ bottom lines directly. In the same context, it is also enlightening to note that 89% of consumers actually switched to a competitor after a poor customer experience.
50% of customers allowed a brand only a week to respond to their issues before voting with their feet. Even more thought-provoking is that 79% of consumers who raised issues about poor CX online had their complaints ignored!
- 67% of companies now compete based on CX
Gartner’s Customer Experience Survey quizzed global CX leaders in 2018 on their insights into CX and its importance. One really significant trend that emerged from this survey was that more than 67% of businesses now competed as regards customer experience, rather than the prices of their services or products. This indicates a rise from only 36% in 2010.
- 30% of customers cite not being able to reach a real human as the most frustrating part of bad CX
Microsoft’s 2017 State of Global Customer Service Report identifies not being able to reach a human being as a significant part of bad CX. There is certainly a place for automated solutions in CX, but it shouldn’t supersede human contact.
Interactive voice response programmes (IVRs) and chatbots that trundle customers around and prevent them speaking to a human representative simply amplify existing customer frustrations. This then forces your customer service representative to deal with a particularly exasperated customer.
- 80% of companies believe they deliver top-notch customer service, yet…
If people are quizzed on this, only 8% of people agree! Bain & Company call this the ‘delivery gap’ that exists between the delivery of customer support, and how customers actually experience it. This is what makes getting and implementing customer feedback so crucial.
So, what are the elements of great CX that will gain you loyal customers and a healthy bottom line? Just remember the following words:
- Speed
- Convenience
- Consistency
- Friendliness and that all important human touch
