If you receive
bad customer service from a company on the telephone, through e-mail
or a Web site, you are likely to take your business elsewhere next
time, a recent study shows.
Research
co-sponsored by Kelly Services and Purdue University’s Center for
Customer-Driven Quality shows that an overwhelming majority of
consumers formulate their perceptions of a company, and their
decision to buy from them again, based on their experiences with the
company’s customer service contact center.
In the survey,
92 percent of consumers reported that their encounter with customer
service personnel influenced their image of the company they had
called. Just as advertising impacts a company’s brand image, call
centers play an important role in a company’s
identity.
“In today’s
highly competitive marketplace, matters handled properly through a
company’s call center can help ensure customer loyalty,” says Benae
Smart, manager of KellyConnect, the Kelly Services unit that
provides trained staff to customer service centers. “Having company
representatives trained to ensure a positive customer service
experience is crucial to maintaining a strong brand image and
keeping customers coming back.”
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