Tag Archives: customer retention

6 Steps to Defuse (and Retain) the Upset Customer

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    According to the Customer Experience Impact Report from Harris Interactive, 86% of consumers will stop doing business with a company if they are dissatisfied with the customer service experience. Not only that, they will communicate their negative experience with 9 to 15 people, according to the White House Office of Consumer Affairs; 13% will tell more than 20 people.

    In addition to the negative opinions formed and communicated about your organization, is it estimated that acquiring a new customer costs five to seven times more than keeping an existing one. So dealing with the angry or upset customer presents a tremendous challenge, opportunity and potentially lasting effect that reaches far beyond customer service to all levels of an organization.

    Being prepared for that upset customer’s call, email, chat message or Facebook post or tweet is the half the battle. When service and support reps can go into proactive mode rather than the instinctive reactive mode, these widely-accepted next steps can potentially turn even the most volatile customer into a loyal and satisfied advocate for both the CSR and the brand: Read More

    Are Your Customers Telling You Thanks for Nothing?

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      You know that awkward moment when you reach out to shake someone’s hand, and for whatever reason, they don’t extend theirs in return? It’s something you think about long after the moment, and the next time you come into contact with that person, you hesitate before offering your hand again. When brands and organizations don’t acknowledge the actions or the kind words of their advocates, they’re setting themselves up for the same, and potentially costly, scenario. Read More

      Targeting the Customer Experience for Across the Board Benefits

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        Customer service, sales and marketing are typically houses divided in many large organizations. But what happens when they all come together to focus on the customer experience? Business magic: increased customer retention, increased sales and an increased confidence in your brand and its messaging.

        After all, increased sales don’t just come from new customers; increased sales also stem from an increase in customer satisfaction. Consider these statistics:

        • Customer retention programs can increase overall company sales by as much as 50%.
        • Repeat customers spend 33% more than new customers. Read More

        Cyber Monday’s Single-Day Sales Frenzy: How Retail Does Ramped Up Sales and Service Right

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          Why line up outside your favorite store at 4am on Black Friday and risk possible injury, when there’s the other option of eating potato chips and shopping from your couch? This is the question that drives most holiday shoppers to log on and load up their virtual shopping carts on Cyber Monday.

          A ComScore press release projects this year’s one-day holiday shopping extravaganza will bring in more than $1 billion dollars for online retailers who recently witnessed total online sales of $816 million on Black Friday.

          Fueling this year’s virtual sales drive are money-conscious consumers who want to find better deals and save money on gas.  Also propelling online sales is shopping by smartphone. A recent National Retail Federation survey of U.S. shoppers found that 40 percent own a smartphone and more than half plan to use their phones to research products and make purchases this year. The 300 largest U.S. mobile merchants, led by Amazon.com, are expecting to generate $5.37 billion in sales through mobile devices this year, double the 2010 total.

          Overall, U.S. online holiday season sales are expected to rise 17 percent from last year to $46.7 billion in 2011, according to a November eMarketer forecast.

          It’s The Most Wonderful Time of the Year: How Do Retailers Handle It?

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          Customer Appreciation and Retention

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            If you take care of your customers, they will take care of your business. You’ve heard it before, but how does a successful company put this into practice?

            Communication
            Being clear with your customers and communicating directly with them is key to forming a good client relationship. Even though technology has become advanced enough to the point where no verbal communication is necessary to discuss an issue, it is not always the best source of correspondence. Reaching out to your customers in person or over the phone will help to build a more personal relationship. Additionally, following up and taking care of any issues they might have immediately allows for a customer to gain your organization’s trust. Read More

            Topic of the Month: Why is Social Media so important to the future of your business?

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              Why is Social Media so important to the future of your business?

              Why is Social Media so important to the future of your business?

              You’ve heard it time and time again: Social Media is changing the world. But why? What’s the importance of it and what kind of benefit can it bring to your business? And how can you leverage this ever-changing gem to take care of your business needs and improve the way you communicate with your customers? Social Media can be valuable to any organization; here’s why it’s important to your organization and how you can use it:

              It’s where your customers are.
              Okay-so yes, Parature’s tag line is “be where your customers are”…but your customers are, in fact, in every social media outlet imaginable. Networks like Facebook, Twitter, and the like are capitalizing on their success through community engagement and involvement. This movement is growing on a daily basis, so it is becoming important to embrace these changes and figure out how to utilize this space. Positioning yourself in these channels will increase the traffic and involvement of your clientele. Read More

              A Multi-Channel Service Environment – Essential to Customer Retention

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                Download the White Paper

                Download the White Paper

                In today’s environment, the customer has never been more important - customer satisfaction and retention are critical to any organization’s success, and customer service is essential to that end. The most efficient and successful customer support departments are versatile; providing their customers with a preferred method of support. Today’s customers are tech-savvy and require so much more than simple phone support. Integrated multi-channel service options, such as self-service via knowledgebases and downloads, live chat sessions, mobile applications, ticket systems, social networks, and easy issue escalation paths via the Web must be implemented to empower support teams to provide the level of service that customers expect.

                The white paper entitled “Multi-Channel Service: Enhancing the Customer Experience” is available for download now.

                The webinar features John Ragsdale, vice president of technology research for the Technology Services Industry Association (TSIA). His area of expertise is in creating strategies for improving the overall customer experience and services operation through technology.

                If you missed the webinar, the recorded version is available here. Share your thoughts and continue the discussion here.

                A copy of this presentation is available in our SlideShare profile.

                How to Improve Customer Retention by Building Emotionally Engaging Customer Experiences

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                  Watch the recorded version here

                  Watch the recorded version here

                  In this recession-driven environment, companies are clamoring to increase revenue and save costs; customer retention has never been more important.  Oddly enough, most organizations spend more on marketing to gain customers rather than to retain them.  A published study by the American Society of Quality Control asked the question “Why do customers leave companies?”  Sixty-eight percent of the respondents answered the question with the following “because of the company’s indifferent attitude to the customer.”  So how can organizations change this apathetic attitude and improve customer retention? The white paper “How to Improve Customer Retention by Building Emotionally Engaging Customer Experiences“explores building an emotional connection with your customers to not only retain them, but have them become customer advocates, recommending and staying loyal to the organization. Read More