Customer Service: How One Bad Experience Can Ruin Your Business

But that one bad day can cost them.

You may believe your company is exempt. You may believe that a friendly “hello” is all the customer service you need to provide to your clients. You may believe that no one will ever know if, on an off day, one of your employees or you mistreat a customer. And you would be gravely mistaken.

When it comes to business survival, customer service has always played an integral role to business success. And today, if your business isn’t laser-focused on customer service you’ll find yourself floundering to find success.

Why you may wonder has customer service become so important to business success?

Let’s start with a few friendly statistics, courtesy Customer Service Speaker Shep Hyken, of before diving into the worst case scenarios.

In addition to being able to steal customers away from the competition and getting existing customers to spend more money with you, let’s look at some of the possible ramifications of NOT consistently providing exceptional customer service.

If you've ever read anything else I write about customer service, you’ll know I’m a huge fan of Starbucks – and not just for their coffee but for their personalized customer service. Honestly, I can get coffee I like just as much at McDonald’s but I don’t. And here’s why. I’m willing to pay more money for a cup of coffee at Starbucks not because I think the quality of the coffee is necessarily better (because honestly I add so much to my coffee it doesn’t taste much like coffee anyways) but because the quality of service is SIGNIFICANTLY better. They smile, they engage, they actually look me in the eye and my favorite is that as a repeat customer they learn my name and my drink order. Talk about personalized service – who doesn't love that. At McDonald’s – well, I’m lucky if I get even a remote hint of friendliness. But, as much as I praise and have praised Starbucks exceptional customer service even they are not without fault.

Last week, due to an issue with their mobile app card reload feature, my bank account had enough pending transactions from Starbucks that it overdrafted my acount and froze all my money. In a panic, I called both my bank and Starbucks’ customer service department. My bank said they would file a claim but they needed someone from Starbucks to call them to rush the process. I had 2 conversations with Starbucks’ customer service department employees – neither conversation yielded that exemplary customer service I am so accustomed to with Starbucks. Instead of sympathy or empathy with the fact that their mobile app was going to cause me to have zero money for the next few days, all I received was a very curt “sorry, there’s nothing we can do.” Certainly not what you want to hear from a company who has tied all your money up and left you stranded with no funds for 3-5 days. Honestly, it wasn't the fact that they couldn’t do anything that bothered me, it was the company’s lack of ownership in the problem and the poor customer service. Even if they couldn’t do anything, compassion goes a long way. I didn’t even feel that either of these employees cared that their company was putting me in a bad situation. As a result, I made my voice heard through social media.

Here’s why this matters to you. Even for customers who have loyalty to your business, one bad experience may serious taint your business in their eyes. Ten years ago perhaps this did not matter as much since the impact was confined to their own personal circle of friends and family. With the Internet and social media, that would bad experience can spread virally across the web and you could end up with a disaster that taints your reputation for years to come.

To put things in perspective, my broadcast of my situation on the Starbucks Facebook fan page certainly grabbed their attention as well as some of my friends and even those I don’t know. But it wasn’t truly damaging to their reputation. However, let’s look at United Breaks Guitars - a lovely song that was written and broadcast via YouTube after United Airlines broke Dave Carroll’s Taylor guitar and refused to take any part in acknowledging the situation or resolving it. Want to talk about the damage one bad experience can have – this YouTube video has over 12 MILLION views. Think that hasn’t hurt United Airlines business? All because of ONE bad customer experience

One bad customer experience can spread like wildfire across the Internet these days. Ten years ago you only had to worry about that person sharing their negative experience with close friends and family. Now they can share it with the world. And if they have a reach like Dave Carroll, you better watch out!I’ll conclude with the following quote from Jim Bush, Executive Vice President, World Service at American Express, who says:

“Getting service right is more than just a nice to do; it’s a must do. American consumers are willing to spend more with companies that provide outstanding service… Ultimately, great service can drive sales and customer loyalty.”