As a business owner, whether you provide people with products and/or services, you should be aware that your customer service quality is vital to your success. Without good customer service, your business is doomed.
If you wonder how well your business fares in the field of customer service, check out the Responsely app, a tool to determine the quality of customer service.
Let’s discuss why swift response times are essential. It’s not just about helping customers solve problems but doing so promptly.
The Importance of Fast Customer Service
There are many different reasons why speedy customer service is essential to the survival of your business. Let’s take a closer look at these reasons.
People Equate Customer Service to Your Values
One reason to solve customer problems quickly is that you, as a company, are still part of the human world, that you are compassionate, and that you care about your customers.
Being willing to quickly solve problems speaks significantly about the company’s underlying values, morals, and ethics. When businesses don’t respond promptly, people get ideas and start making assumptions, and they’re never good.
Those Reviews
The simple fact is that people make their voices heard, and with all of the social media and review platforms, this has never been truer than today. People can, do, and will make their voices heard, which can be either good or bad for you.
Suppose your business has excellent service, and the customers write positive reviews about it. In that case, you are much more likely to have a positive image in the public eye, leading to more business.
However, there are people out there just waiting to tear you to shreds. More often than not, a slow or poor customer service experience is enough to make some customers eviscerate you and your business on every review platform, and that, of course, is not good for business.
It’s Cheaper to Retain Customers
A proven fact of retail is that it is much cheaper and more profitable to retain customers than acquire new ones. Acquiring new customers usually involves engaging in additional marketing, and marketing can cost a lot.
However, once you have customers, you are likely to keep profiting from them as long as they are happy. Studies show that a 5% increase in customer retention can lead to a profit increase of as much as 25%. One-time customers spend once, but repeat customers keep coming back.
People Pay for Good Customer Service
Another fact is that good customer service is directly related to how much money people will spend with you and how much extra people are willing to pay for a product or service when compared to a competitor.
Up to 50% of customers would increase the amount of money spent with a business if they had a good customer service experience. Moreover, nearly 70% of customers are willing to pay more for the same goods and services because of good customer service. People want to know that if they have a problem, you will be there to help.
New Customer Referrals
Although online reviews are essential in today’s world, word of mouth still counts for a lot. If you expect people to tell their friends and family about you, especially the positive aspects, they need to be happy with your customer service. Nobody is going to refer their friends if your customer service is lacking or nonexistent.
Speedy Customer Service – The Bottom Line
The bottom line is that solving customer problems in a timely fashion has many benefits. On the other end of the spectrum, inadequate and slow customer service can sink a business quickly.
Customer service is a ‘make or break’ kind of thing for every business when it comes down to it. It’s all about getting new customers, keeping existing customers happy, and making more money.
