Why I left

Customers prefer to be more than just another number. Customers want to be treated like royalty if you want their loyalty.

Consumers are fickle creatures. They are easy to lose, hard to win over, and often you do not even know what is on their mind.

There are a lot of resources and costs allocated toward acquiring new customers for your business. This means that every customer that vacates your business, comes with an associated cost and loss of future revenue.

Ignoring your customers and not listening to them is one of the biggest mistakes a business can make and one of the reasons for customers to complain.

A dissatisfied customer shares his/her unpleasant experience with all his friends, which consequently, leads to high negative word of mouth. This is not good for a business’s reputation.

2020 Achieving Customer Amazement Study asked consumers their willingness to switch brands or companies for better customer service. The response was an emphatic “yes”. Ninety-six per cent said they will leave your business due to a bad service experience. That is almost everyone,

Sixty-two per cent of customers are willing to pay more for good customer service – and even more for convenience.

Fifty per cent will buy a product they were not initially interested in because of personalised recommendations, and that 40% of consumers spent more than they intended to because of personalised communication.

Growing a personal relationship with your customers will not only increase their loyalty but give them a reason to be boastful to their friends about your business.

Companies like Amazon, Apple, and others that are recognized as customer service famous and successful in their industries, promise great service and deliver to that.

Businesses need to start thinking about the different experiences that they can be able to offer their customers. They also need to focus on finding out exactly where consumers start to lose interest. For example, about 60% of people aged 55 and older, value face-to-face or print communication, while the millennial (youth) prefers social media, text, and audiovisual communication. (This is why a product like Junior Graphic will not survive a present-day market)

Customers will compare your service to the best service they have ever received from anyone, so do not give your customers a reason to switch—at least not because of bad customer service.

All of these (and more) may contribute to the decision of a customer to choose one company over another. When you figure out a customer’s why and can scale it to meet the reasons and needs of a larger group, you connect on another level that brings customers back again.

Why they buy is the same reason why they leave.

Why customer care is important

Successful businesses understand that customer care can make or break their relationships with customers.

If customers can’t get the support they need when and how they need it, they may leave for good.

The goal of Great customer service is to go above and beyond to solve customer problems and provide buyers with the best solutions available.

Relationships have become vital during this Covid-19 period. Both customers and businesses agree that customer service has also become pivotal over the period so much that it has sprung to the forefront of business strategy.

According to Zendesk trends; 75% of customers are willing to spend more to buy from companies that give them a good customer experience.

What started as a global health crisis became the accelerant in our transition to a truly digital-first world. Customers are more online than ever. This has made social media a vibrant space for buying and selling, also making it a necessary tool for customer service delivery

In Ghana, some of the cooperate institutes like MTN use social media as a tool for customer engagement in recent times. This has informed customers and businesses how necessary social media has to impact customer service space.

Businesses had to take out advertisements in media houses to deliver mass messages to consumers about any change in their customer service policy. But things have improved. Businesses can post the changes on social media and will take seconds to trend among their clients.

Social Media has completely changed the face of customer service and the way consumers interact with businesses.

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The writer, Bright Atter, is a customer care professional and can be contacted via email: atter.bright@gmail.com