The Bad Consequences of Poor Customer Service

Customer service is arguably the most important aspect for your business to get right. With great customer service your business can overcome poor marketing, but it’s incredibly difficult to plaster poor customer service with even the most convincing marketing.

Companies who are guilty of these bad customer service traits often face negative consequences — many of which are difficult to overcome and can lead to the company’s failure.

A Damaged Reputation

Your brand’s reputation is a valuable asset that you should have control over. However, with the internet, your reputation is the prime candidate to be affected when your customer service is below expectations for an extended period of time.

Consumers are easily triggered to leave negative reviews online when they have a bad experience with a brand. Besides leaving reviews, customers also tend to share their frustrations on social media for their social circle to know about.

This leads to a slow decrease in sales, but more importantly, a significant decline in favourable word of mouth promotion.

Declining Conversions

Bad customer service also leads to downgrading conversions. Although customer service implies current customers, it impacts leads and prospects as well.

Imagine what your leads are thinking when they ask a question and never hear back, when they have to wait on hold for extended periods of time, or when sales reps are slow to respond.

Customer service departments are already associated with a tedious experience overall. Why not surprise people with a positive experience? Great customer service creates a pleasant first impression and sets the stage for prospects to be excited about doing business with your company.

Customer Lifetime Value Drops

Acquiring new customers is usually more expensive than keeping your current customers. That is one of the primary reasons delivering great customer service is so important.

Poor customer service can destroy the average customer lifetime value and drain more of your marketing budget to attract more customers. Conversely, good customer service can actually save these relationships.

You Lose Your Best Employees

Bad customer service can also negatively affect other areas of a business. Besides losing customers, there is the risk of slowly losing your best employees.

Having a customer service problem means your best employees are forced to compensate for the employees that fail to put in the necessary effort. This can lead to burnout and dissatisfaction from the people you rely on the most.

Ultimately, if your company develops a bad reputation, your top employees may contemplate moving to new places or even your competition.