Customers today can make your brand the talk of the town, in both positive and negative ways. A study by Invoca shows that after a negative customer service interaction with a business, 74% of people are likely to choose another business, and 70% are likely to complain to friends and family. And in today’s reality, we all know that the avenues to complain go well beyond old-fashioned word-of-mouth.

A customer’s dissatisfaction can be posted for the whole world to see on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. And 1-to-5 star reviews are easily posted on Google, Yelp, Bing, and industry-specific platforms like TripAdvisor or Healthgrades.

In fact, a whopping 88% of consumers report that they are influenced by those online reviews and testimonials when making decisions about choosing a product, service, or business to work with. That’s why it’s more important than ever to deliver excellent customer service at every interaction a customer has with your business.

An article in Forbes details how today’s consumer-driven culture is calling for a concierge-like approach to customers. In the article, contributor Blake Morgan writes, “Today most companies have amnesia when it comes to customers. Brands don’t know who customers are and brands certainly don’t remember their preferences. Often customers must repeat themselves many times to the brand. This provides a terrible customer experience. Does anyone enjoy calling their bank? The customer repeating themselves is the number one customer frustration, according to the Harvard Business Review.”

Customer Contact Council, a division of the Corporate Executive Board, conducted a study of more than 75,000 people who had interacted with a business over the phone or through self-service channels such as the web, voice prompts, chat, and email.

The results showed the top 3 complaints that frustrate customers most are:

• Having to repeatedly contact the company, or be transferred to get an issue resolved.
• Having to repeat information to the same person, or to more than one person.
• Having to switch from one service channel to another, such as needing to call after failing to solve a problem through the website.

When businesses realize they’re guilty of these top offenses and put plans in place to correct the problem, customers are typically forgiving of the past mistakes—that is, if they’ve stuck around long enough to experience the change in customer service.

The bottom line is that businesses today simply must be responsive, respectful, and attentive when it comes to attracting and retaining customers. Answering calls promptly and professionally interacting with customers each and every time they call is the key to delivering customer service that people will want to talk about—in a positive rather than a negative way.

If you’d like to learn more about how a live answering service can help you deliver customer service that will make your customers want to leave positive reviews, contact Voice Link of Columbus, Inc. We offer month-to-month service agreements with no hidden fees to meet the needs of any business regardless of size.

With state-of-the-art facilities in Columbus and LaGrange, Georgia, Voice Link of Columbus, Inc. has an 82% referral rate among local businesses and provides live answering services that exceed your expectations, 24/7, 365 days of the year. Request information online or call us at (800) 262-2799 for a free consultation.