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Firms that want to survive the economic downturn no longer have the luxury of ignoring dissatisfied customers, according to a newly-formed association.
Customer Experience Management Businesses Association (cemNZ) is a collaboration between Chris Bell, Dr Ian Brooks and Paul Linnell - all well known in New Zealand as strong advocates for improved customer care as a driver for business success.
Linnell said the prevailing downturn in the world economy has exposed a truth, that until now, businesses have had the luxury to either ignore or assign to a low priority unhappy customers.
"I think the first problem is that businesses have been aware of problem but haven't realised how bad it is."
He said periods of sustained growth and relative abundance have allowed businesses to grow complacent about their customers.
"The sort of research that cemNZ has done in New Zealand shows that 50% of customers have problems with the service they receive from their suppliers throughout the year."
Many have even made customer retention a marketing issue on the basis that if they lose customers, for whatever reason, they simply have to be "replaced".
He said dissatisfaction can cause a drop in about 25% of customer's loyalty and advocacy.
"Now everyone has to tighten their belts. It's not the sort of thing people can sit back complacently about anymore and say well we don't mind losing customers we always find a few more. It's no longer the case it's very expensive."
He said another issue industry is facing is that in the past if a customer was unhappy with the service they received the message would be spread by word-of-mouth.
But today people go straight to social networking sites to voice their concern which means more people will find out about the dissatisfaction.
He suggests listening to customers issues and responding to them effectively to ensure customer loyalty.
"To turn a financial transaction into a rewarding experience, businesses have to be creative and they have to be fully committed to seeing the world through their customers eyes," adds co-founder Chris Bell.
