By Andrew Lowcock
A worldwide survey by American Express has found Australians are more likely than people in other countries to withdraw their custom from a business if they receive poor service, and spread the bad word to their friends and family.
Customers in Australia and 11 other major economies were surveyed and only Mexicans had less tolerance for a bad customer service experience. Overall, 86 per cent of Australians had previously ceased contact with a company as a result of a bad experience; although most were prepared to give a company one chance before cutting ties.
More than nine out of 10 Australians are then likely to tell their friends, family and colleagues about their bad experience; assuring one bad customer service experience can deny a business many potential customers.
It’s also true that far more Australians will complain to a loved one than to the company itself (61 to 65 per cent), either in the form of a phone call, email or conversation with supervisor or manager.
Brett Whitford, executive director of the Customer Service Institute of Australia, said the reason for this was because so many Australians were unsatisfied with the responses they got from companies; they just didn’t bother with making official complaints anymore.
When a business does acknowledge a customer’s bad experience, the customer would rather receive an apology than a refund or discount of some kind.
The survey also found customers will also spread the word after a particularly good customer service experience, with 96 per cent of Australians saying they’d do business again with a company if their first experience was a positive one.
The survey is further confirmation of the importance of satisfactory customer service as a factor in attracting and retaining a loyal customer and client base.
[...] year ago we reported on the findings of a global survey on customer service which measured Australians’ intolerance [...]