When it comes to customer
service, most people agree on a couple of things: They aren't very
satisfied with the level of attention they get now -- and they
wouldn't want to be the person whose job it is to keep customers
happy.
Those are among the findings of our May 17 Reader Survey.
Some 77% of the more than 400 people who responded
characterized their customer-service experiences over the past 12
months as either fair or poor, vs. the 20% who said their experience
had been good. Some 38% said that service had worsened during the
economic downturn, but 47% said that it remained unchanged, and 10%
think it improved.
Given a list of seven types of companies
to rate, some 28% of respondents said they get the best service at
restaurants. The next-highest finishers, in descending order, were:
e-commerce Web sites, chain-store retailers, auto dealers, phone
companies, computer companies, and government offices.
NO SECOND CHANCE. The people who responded
don't have much patience with bad service: Some 94% say they've
stopped using a company's products or services after a bad
experience, some 57% say they don't give an offending company a
second chance (though 37% sometimes do), and 76% complain when
they've been maltreated.
The biggest beefs with
customer-service operations are unfriendly or uninformed reps, plus
slowness in dealing with a problem. Logically, given how demanding
they are as consumers, some 62% of those who replied wouldn't want
to be a customer-service rep, vs. the 34% who said they would like
to be, or at least would give the job a try.
Here are the
complete details of the survey, which wasn't a scientific poll,
since anyone who wished to could participate:
Taking into
account all of your experiences during the past 12 months, how would
you rate the level of customer service you've experienced on
average?
Option
Total
%
Extremely good
6
1.47 %
Good
84
20.64 %
Fair
160
39.31 %
Poor
155
38.08 %
No opinion
2
0.49 %
Of the
following types of companies, where have you had the best
customer-service experience?
Option
Total
%
Auto dealers
30
7.44 %
Phone companies
23
5.71 %
Computer
companies
20
4.96 %
Chain-store
retailers
53
13.15 %
Government
offices
11
2.73 %
E-commerce Web
sites
59
14.64 %
Restaurants
114
28.29 %
Other
46
11.41 %
None
47
11.66 %
Have
you ever quit using a company's products or services because of a
bad customer-service experience?
Option
Total
%
Yes
380
94.53 %
No
17
4.23 %
Don't know
5
1.24 %
In
such situations, have you ultimately given the company a second
chance?
Option
Total
%
Yes
148
36.72 %
No
230
57.07 %
Don't recall
25
6.20 %
When
you have a bad customer-service experience, do you complain to the
offending party?
Option
Total
%
Yes
307
76.18 %
No
96
23.82 %
What's your biggest beef with customer service
(assuming you have one)?
Option
Total
%
Slow response
time
54
13.37 %
Uninformed
customer-service representatives
80
19.8 %
Unfriendly
customer-service representatives
84
20.79 %
Inferior products
that require too much handholding from customer service
6
1.49 %
All of the above
171
42.33 %
I don't have a beef
with the customer service I've experienced
9
2.23 %
During
the economic durnturn, do you feel that customer
service:
Option
Total
%
Improved
41
10.17 %
Got Worse
154
38.21 %
Didn't change either
way
189
46.9 %
No opinion
19
4.71 %
If
given the option, would you want to be a customer-service
representative?
Option
Total
%
Yes
79
19.46 %
No
252
62.07 %
Maybe
61
15.02 %
Don't know
14
3.45 %
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Copyright 2002 , by The McGraw-Hill
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