Two Strikes and You're Out!

In last month's article, Are Your Guest Moving Away?, we discussed how 25% to 50% of existing guests abandon (never return) to the typical LBE each year. Research by Amdocs, a provider of CRM (customer relationship management) products and services, reveals how tenuous a relationship with guests can be. Their national customer service survey of 1000 consumers found that 12% of customers will take their business elsewhere after only one negative service encounter, and it only takes two negative service counters for another 46% to walk out the door forever. 80% of the consumers polled said they would rather visit the dentist, pay their tax bill, or sit in a traffic jam than deal with an unhelpful customer service representative.

Other survey results include:

  • 75% said they would tell friends and family about negative experiences.
  • 81% of consumers believe that the loss of their business is the biggest motivator for companies to improve their customer service.

Michael Couture, vice president of marketing at Amdocs, said, "The results of our survey prove that if today's consumers aren't treated well, they will take their business elsewhere."

What the survey reveals is that in today's world, good service is no longer acceptable. Consumers are more demanding than ever. The bar has been raised. If you except to succeed, your customer service better be consistently superior.