Contact Center Solutions Featured Article

December 29, 2008

New Study Reveals Customer Service More Important Than a Bargain

By Michelle Robart


Here’s an interesting question to ask yourself: Would you rather pay top-dollar for a product or service and receive exceptional customer service, or purchase something for a bargain, but be treated poorly?
 
A new study revealed by global management consulting company, Accenture, found that customer service ranks above price as a global driver for customer retention.
 
More than 4,100 consumers in eight countries participated in Accenture’s (News - Alert) fourth annual study on customer satisfaction. Results showed revealed that the number of consumers who leave a company because of poor customer experience is dramatically higher than the number of those who leave because they found a lower price elsewhere.
 
The study also found that customer service is even more important in the U.S. 73 percent of survey respondents claimed they have switched providers due to poor service, compared with 47 percent who drop a company for another because of lower prices.
 
In addition, it seems that consumers are becoming less forgiving of a bad customer service experience and will leave a company if they are not treated right.

Among the survey's other findings, there are four primary factors that influence customers to switch providers. These include how polite and friendly service representatives are, how quickly issues are resolved, whether service representatives take ownership for solving a customer's issue, and convenient customer service calling times.

One company that takes customer service very seriously is Ipswitch Messaging Division. Operating under the common goal of ensuring that each customer is completely satisfied, Ipswitch (News - Alert) offers an affordable and simple installation messaging solution for small and mid-sized businesses.
 
The Ipswitch Messaging customer service team adds value to its products in that the entire team works hard to provide a successful experience so customers walk away happy.

With today’s economic downturn, businesses all over the U.S. are taking a deeper look at their priorities and spending. With its high license costs, hardware and operating system requirements, and high administration costs, Microsoft (News - Alert) Exchange is neither affordable nor ideal for most SMB users.
 
For the 47 percent population who are looking for lower prices, Ipswitch’s IMail Server is a low cost alternative to Microsoft Exchange with a proven e-mail messaging solution that is dependable, scalable, versatile and cost effective.

For the 68 percent who want to receive superior customer service, IMail has better service than any of its competitors supported by a world-class team of technical support engineers and customer service representatives. Ipswitch Messaging customers purchase IMail to cut costs, but they also benefit from a world-class service and support team that is ready to solve any mission critical that may arise.


Michelle Robart is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To read more of Michelle's articles, please visit her columnist page.

Edited by Michelle Robart


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