37 Stats You Didn’t Know About Customer Service

The importance of a customer’s experience with a business can’t be understated. It can make or break their entire journey.

In recent years, extensive data gathering of customer service statistics has offered hard evidence about customer experience. Which is why any business worth its salt should familiarize itself with the following customer service facts.

How business is affected by customer experience

“If a customer likes you—and continues to like —they will continue to do business with you. If they don’t, they won’t.” - Paul Greenberg

1. For consumers, customer experience will become more important than price and product by 2020. - Walker

2. 89% of businesses compete through the level of customer experience they’re able to deliver. - Gartner

3. $1.6 trillion is lost by companies in the United States due to customers switching as a result of poor customer service. - Accenture

4. 70% of the customer’s journey is dictated by how the customer feels they are being treated. - McKinsey

5. Businesses that deliver better customer experiences obtain revenues between 4% and 8% above their market. - Bain & Company

6. 55% of customers are willing to spend more money with a company that guarantees them a satisfying experience. - ThinkJar

7. 70% of unhappy customers whose problems are resolved are willing to shop with a business again. - Glance

8. Customer service stats show that new customers costs anywhere between 5 and 25 times more expensive than retaining existing customers. - Harvard Business Review

Customer experience dictates where customers shop

“In an era when companies see online support as a way to shield themselves from ‘costly’ interactions with their customers, it’s time to consider an entirely different approach: building human-centric customer service through great people and clever technology. So, get to know your customers. Humanize them. Humanize yourself. It’s worth it.” - Kristin Smoby

9. 65% of customers said they have switched to a different brand because of a poor experience. - Khoros

10. Customers overwhelmingly agreed (83%) that they feel more loyal to brands that respond and resolve their complaints. - Khoros

11. 70% of customers report that technology makes it simple to take their business to a competitor if need be. - Salesforce

12. 73% of customers fall in love with a brand because of friendly customer service representatives. - RightNow

Customers want a personalized experience

“We see our customers as invited guests to a party, and we are the hosts. It’s our job every day to make every important aspect of the customer experience a little bit better.” - Jeff Bezos

13. 75% of customers desire a consistent experience regardless of how they engage a company, e.g. social media, in person, by phone, etc. - Salesforce

14. 44% of consumers take their business elsewhere due to a poor experience. - 5NewVoiceMedia

15. 75% of customers will want to shop with businesses that offer personalized experiences by 2020. - Salesforce

16. 64% of customers want to shop with companies which can meet their needs in real-time. - Salesforce

17. 50% of customers switch brands when their needs are not met.

Better analytics creates a better customer experience

“A massive shift is under way in terms of customers’ service preferences.” - Matthew Dixon

18. 56% of customers don’t mind sharing their personal information in exchange for better service. - Salesforce

19. 78% of customers who complain to a brand on Twitter expect a response within an hour. - Lithium

20. 80% of businesses use customer satisfaction scores to analyze customer experience and improve it. - Harvard Business Review

21. 72% of companies believe they can use analytics reports to improve the customer experience. - Deloitte

22. 95% of adults between the ages of 18 and 34 are likely to follow a brand through social media channels. - MarketingSherpa

23. 23% of businesses use social media as a tool to collect and analyze data. - Gartner

How frustrated are customers?

“Don’t try to tell the customer what he wants. If you want to be smart, be smart in the shower. Then get out, go to work and serve the customer!” - Gene Buckley

24. 21% of people waiting at a university pharmacy decided to fill their prescription elsewhere because they waited too long. - Sage Journals

25. 35% of customers have become angry when talking to customer service - American Express

26. 72% of customers blame poor customer service for having to explain their issue multiple times. - Zendesk

27. 84% of customers report that their expectations had not been exceeded in their last interaction with customer service. - Harvard Business Review

28. 82% of customers have ceased business with a company because of a poor customer experience. - Zendesk

29. Only 1% of customers feel that their expectations of customer service are always met. - RightNow

30. 50% of customers will wait one week for a customer service representative response before they stop doing business with that brand. - RightNow

31. 78% of customers have given up on a transaction because of a negative customer experience. - American Express

32. 67% of customers hang up the phone in frustration when they cannot reach a customer service representative. - Glance

Are your customers sharing their experience?

“Here is a simple but powerful rule: always give people more than what they expect to get.” - Nelson Boswell

33. 13% of customers tell 15 people or more if they have a negative experience. - Esteban Kolsky

34. 72% of customers will tell 6 people or more if they have a satisfying experience. - Esteban Kolsky

35. 67% of customers report a bad customer experience as the reason for switching businesses. - Esteban Kolsky

36. Only 1 in 26 customers will tell a business about their negative experience; the rest simply leave according to customer service facts. - Esteban Kolsky

37. 79% of customers who share their complaints online see their complaints ignored. - RightNow

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With customer service statistics in mind, it’s easier to understand and see how the customer experience can be improved. Which is ultimately always a work in progress, but it begins by putting the customer first.

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