HALF of all customers will boycott a company because of poor customer service


New research suggests that nearly half of all customers boycott businesses because they have received poor customer service from them.

The research by the Institute of Customer Service also found that one in six people in the UK say the receive poor service at least once a week, because of the bad attitude and competence of the staff they deal with.

The survey of 2,000 people found that 43% have not returned to a business after having a poor initial customer service experience.

Just over half of all customer service complaints were relating to staff being disinterested in helping people, while 56% of respondents said that staff lacked the capability to help them immediately.

Over a third of respondents said the attitude of the customer service staff they encounter was “unhelpful”.

Other findings of the Survey

When it comes to securing brand loyalty, the respondents said that the three most important things were: a courteous and helpful attitude (18%), staff providing correct information at the first attempt (17%) and professionalism (16%).

Despite the British public’s reputation for patience, it seems that most British customers demand a speedy response rate. Almost half (46%) said that they expect a response within 24 hours if they contact an organisation via email, with 42% saying the same for website contact and 33% for social media enquiries.

The research suggests that organisations need to pay greater attention to the way they personalise a customer’s experience. Tailoring special offers, knowing people’s names or birthdays, and having a record of previous interactions, are important to customers, with 34% of respondents saying that this alone, is enough to make them buy from that company again.

REFERENCE
Institute of Customer Service, August 2016