Impact of Negative Customer Service on Business
Negative customer experience can severely impact your bottom line. You need to ensure your website is user-friendly, your call center training programs are well-orchestrated, and data security is a priority.
- 50% of customers will stop using a website if it is not mobile friendly. (True List)
Good website designis not just about how your site looks on a desktop. Many consumers now check email and pay bills by smartphone. If your website is hard to navigate on a mobile device, half of those attempting to pay, won’t.
Self-serve customers like to pay when and where it’s most convenient for them. They expect to be able to do so quickly and easily. In AR, when goods and services that have already been rendered, if you don’t secure payment when consumers are motivated, the revenue may be lost forever.
Even if you are able to re-engage those who abandon payment, you’ve spent needless time, effort and resources to gather that payment. In addition, consumer satisfaction and trust in your brand will take a hit.
- 41% of customers don’t believe companies care about data security. (Salesforce)
Payment security and compliance should always matter. If you expect consumers to pay their bills, you need to put measures in place to keep their information secure. Demonstrating your commitment to securing consumer data will help you gain consumer trust. If consumers don’t feel like you care about their security, this will cause negative feelings and friction in the payment process.
- 57% of consumers won’t recommend a company with a poorly designed website. (Sweor)
Third party collection clients depend on agencies to draw in and collect payments on their behalf. If you are offering a bad experience to their customers, clients are not likely to stay with you for long.
First party accounts receivable companies can be impacted by this too. Good reviews and satisfied consumers are essential. If you are looking for good reviews and customer testimonials, you may consider redesigning your website to emphasize the customer experience.
- 96% of customers will leave a company due to bad service. (Forbes)
It’s almost guaranteed that an unhappy customer will leave your business if given the chance. If you are an ARM company that collects on behalf of others, they need you to conduct your business professionally (especially healthcare systems or other industries with repeat patients).
If you are operating in a first party collection setting, this customer experience statistic should be just as (or even more) relevant. Practicing poor customer service is the same as asking customers to stop paying their bills. If you don’t make them a priority, their accounts will be much harder to resolve.
- Attracting a new customer is 6-7 times more expensive than retaining a current one. (Salesforce)
It is much more expensive to attract new customers than it is to retain those you already have. For third party collections, this means you’re wasting money if you don’t provide the customer service your clients expect.
If you are collecting on behalf of your own business, this statistic impacts you too. Often, late-paying customers have experienced an event that has made paying a bill difficult (illness, job loss, etc.). Practicing empathy when collecting a bill increases the likelihood consumers will leave happy and seek your services in the future, earning you money now and in the future.
Positive CX: Statistics
- Businesses that focus on customer experience may see an up to 80% increase in revenue. (Forbes)
Many companies struggle looking for ways to maximize their profits. Data shows that investing in the customer experience is one of the best ways to do so. Focus on digital customer journey mapping and consumer-centric processes and other tactics that will improve experiences in the long run.
- 75% of customers expect companies to use new technologies. (Salesforce)
Part of creating a positive experience for consumers is to offer them the tools and technology they prefer. Other industries routinely use email, text messaging and chat to communicate with customers. They expect AR companies to offer the same options as well.
If your company isn’t offering options the majority of people expect, you’re causing a roadblock and lowering customer satisfaction.
- 84% of companies have reported seeing increased revenue due to improvements in customer experience. (Dimension Data)
Removing friction and making the consumer experience better is an almost guaranteed win. Nearly every business that focuses on improving customer satisfaction also sees a boost to their profits. If no other statistic entices companies to shift their focus, this one should catch your attention.
- Since 2010 there has been a 36% increase in companies competing in the area of customer satisfaction. (Gartner)
If your company hasn’t shifted focus to improving the consumer experience, you may be getting left behind. In the past decade, 36% more companies have begun competing with each other to improve satisfaction. Your competitors may be working to improve processes and make payment collection easier. If you aren’t doing the same, you will lose out on revenue.
- When asking consumers what impacts their level of trust with a company, offering excellent customer service is ranked number one. (Zendesk)
In accounts receivable, building and maintaining consumer trust is essential to a good reputation. Do you make it easy for customers to voice their concerns and opinions? Do you teach validating statements and conversational intelligence to your call center staff? If you work hard to strengthen focus on providing good customer service, you can build trust and consumer relationships.
Customer experience is the future of business. If your agency can't keep up, revenue will decrease, complaints and call escalations will rise, and clients will go elsewhere.
Take a hard look at your company's current processes, make the necessary adjustments, and you'll see success.
Receive weekly consumer and digital engagement tips. Subscribe to the PDCflow blog:
Subscribe to the PDCflow Blog
- ABOUT THE AUTHOR -
Hannah Huerta, Marketing Specialist
Hannah Huerta is a Marketing Specialist at PDCflow. She creates content for the accounts receivable and payment industry.
Related Articles
