The Importance of Customer Service in Today’s Economy
U06a1
Regenia Wade
Rege09@hotmail.com
BUS 3004
Developing a Business Perspective
January 10, 2010
The Importance of Customer Service in Today’s Economy
Because of tough economic times today, it is imperative for businesses to retain the customers they currently have in order to remain profitable. A great value alone is not enough to keep customer coming back. Proactive customer service from a staff that is well trained and empowered to satisfy customers’ needs is the key to remaining profitable.
Without customers there is no business, without loyal customers a business can not flourish.
Satisfying loyal customers keeps cost down through repeat business and positive work-of-mouth advertising. Because customer loyalty becomes weakened in a challenging economy, businesses need to make customers feel important, by empowering front-line employees to exceed their expectations on a daily basis. Make customers feel important and they will become customers for life.
Customer Service Direct Link to Profitability
Customer service is crucial to any business in order to be profitable. Although, the initial expense may seem costly, the rewards of customer retention and increased profits can make up for the initial expense. Businesses that provide superior customer service and achieve customer loyalty can charge more, realize greater profits, increase their market share and have customers willingly pay more for their products simply because of good service. ( Gerson, 2008) In fact, you can gain an average of 6% a year in market share simply by providing good service: satisfying and keeping your customers (Gerson,2008).
High quality customer service pays in many ways, including long-term customer retention and increased revenues. Although many businesses are focused on retaining customers, many have not thought about the cost of losing one. A whopping 68 percent...