Are Consumers Willing to Pay More for Better Service?

82 percent.

That’s the percentage of consumers who have stopped doing business with a company as a result of a negative experience.

85 percent.

That’s the percentage of consumers who say they would be willing to pay more over the standard price in order to ensure a superior customer experience.

These numbers come from Harris Interactive’s 2010 Customer Experience Report for North America. They make sense in a personal way as well. If you’ve ever had a horrible experience with a company, you likely walked away from their business. Would you go back to a mechanic that fixed your car with duct tape and superglue?

Breaking Down the Data

According to the Harris Interactive report, many consumers are putting more thought into how they spend their money. Over half of the respondents became a customer of a company of their reputation for great customer service and 40% began buying from a competing brand because of their reputation for great service.

The report also broke down the 85% figure, showing how much more these customers would pay:

  • 76% would pay 5% or more
  • 55% would pay 10% or more
  • 27% would pay 15% or more
  • 18% would pay 20% or more
  • 10% would pay 25% or more

As an example, the report shows that the US airline industry could add $10.6 billion in revenue if they were able to give a superior customer experience. This is over five time the deficit plaguing the airline industry. The consumer electronics industry could increase revenues by $16.5 billion if it provided outstanding customer service.

What Can You Do?

These statistics show how powerful a great customer experience can be in bolstering profits and growing business. The report recommends:

“Put simply, consumers want easily accessible, accurate information to make well informed buying decisions. And they want to be respected, treated well, and have their issues resolved in a timely fashion.”

Consumers also want responsiveness from businesses, especially on social media. The survey found that 58% of those surveyed would like the company to respond to a comment left on a social networking site, with 42% expecting a response with the day. Yet only 22% actually received a response to a comment. Clearly, businesses can do a lot more to engage customers.

The most important thing is to see things from your customers’ perspectives. What might frustrate them, and more importantly, what would delight them? 55% of consumers recommend a company because of its customer service.

Is your contact center able to create customer advocates? Find out–your business is on the line.

 

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