The Reason Customers Leave You is You

We’ve all been there. The tearful breakup in a crowded restaurant and the inevitable non-confrontational statement comes out. louboutin chaussures “It’s not you, it’s me.” And then…you’re history. It’s surgical in its brevity and has been used since the invention of dating. Business relationships are not all that different and a new study from Rightnow Technologies (part of Oracle) explains why. According to the data: • 73% of customers leave because they are dissatisfied with customer service, but companies think just 21% leave for this reason. • Company thinks that nearly half (48%) leave because of price, when in fact, according to the customer perspective, this happens only 25% of the time. The U.S. Small Business Administration and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce support these findings. According to their research: • 68% leave because they are upset with the treatment they’ve received (Customer Service) • 14% are dissatisfied with the product or service Hmmm so in the minds of consumers, it would appear that price is secondary to customer service. Now what do you do with this lovely nugget of helpful information? Well, now might be a really good time to examine your company’s customer service policies/procedures and operations. What? Why is the PR/branding guy talking about operations. nike air presto Simply put, it’s because EVERYTHING counts towards (or against) your brand. And if you’re a fan of data (and I just know you are) you see that bad customer service drives people AWAY from your brand. basket nike tn And it’s PR’s job to drive people TOWARD your brand so we’d rather not set up opposing side magnets in the same company if at all possible. A wonderful press release might get you solid media coverage and sales, but if your customer service is broken, the company is still going to lose when the ledger is tallied. Don’t be one of those companies that think customers are leaving you because of price when the truth is deeper. Be sure your company is sending the right brand message with EVERY SINGLE customer encounter. It’s tough I realize, but nothing worth having ever came easy, especially your company’s reputation. nike tn So maybe it really is you. And the best way to not be on the receiving end of that conversation with your customers the next time is to work on fixing the only thing you can really control in the equation….you.