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Customer Service Information |
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The Dissatisfied Customer
We, as small business people, naturally dislike complaints from our clients and customers. Because we're intimately involved with our home businesses, small businesses, or freelance careers, any complaint takes on a personal commentator. A dissatisfied customer is a direct reflection on our performance and a blow to our egos. The common reaction of small business people to a consumer complaint is defensive posturing and/or avoidance. But ignoring a disgruntled customer can be much more damaging than small business owners realize. When consumer complaints are avoided or ignored, the customer still needs to vent. A study done at Western Washington University and Illinois State University, shows that consumers who had a bad experience at a store most often responded in three ways: They decided not to shop at the store again. They told their friends and relatives about their bad experience. They convinced friends and relatives not to shop at the store again. If the customer decides never to use your services again, you've lost one customer. But the damage may be worse. There may be a real problem that the business is unable to address because they aren't focused on it right now. If the customer tells friends and relatives about their bad experience, the business now has a negative reputation with several customers and potential customers. If the customer convinces friends and relatives not to use the business, the business has now lost several customer (probably for good), and the influenced customers will likely spread news of the original bad experience to their peer network in order to bolster the validity of their decision. Segarin Monk is a social program marketer for government and non-profit agencies. He believes in marketing from an integrity-based, pass-it-on, pay-it-forward stance. See more articles from this author at: http://marketingyogi.blogspot.com/
MORE RESOURCES: Changes at Social Security Administration may impact customer service, benefit payments, experts say CNBC AI won’t fix the real issue with customer service Financial Times How to address common customer service gaps TechTarget CSPI & Nutrition Action Customer Service Center for Science in the Public Interest Produce Wholesalers: Solving Customer Challenges Through Service Produce Business How SAP CX AI Toolkit Transforms Customer Service Operations Technology Magazine Monetary Gold Achieves Record Customer Service Improvement, Climbs to #3 in Industry Rankings PR Newswire Customer Service & Support Hillsborough County (.gov) CMA CGM Launches "My Exclusive CONCIERGE" Premium Customer Service LM - Logistics Manager How This Indiana Retailer Marries Celebration and Customer Service in His Store Gifts & Decorative Accessories Doxee, agreement with Generali Seguros for customer service. MarketScreener Camiral Golf & Wellness sets benchmark for exceptional customer service Golf Business News Tower of Fantasy promises better customer service, more social features, and even more sci-fi stuff Massively Overpowered Porsche placed first in 2025 J.D. Power Customer Service Index Study Porsche Newsroom What Your Business Can Learn From Southwest Airlines Business.com Centier Bank lands No. 1 on J.D. Power customer service ranking Northwest Indiana Business Magazine Certificate of Achievement – Sales and Customer Service (Online) Lake Michigan College Best General Contractor Insurance Investopedia Generative and agentic AI set to transform customer service into a strategic value driver for businesses Marketing Tech News Sky cuts 2,000 jobs as it moves more customer services online Financial Times Contact Us About Your Bill City of Clearwater Zomato Employee Layoffs: Around 600 customer service jobs cut without notice? Know reason here ET Now Revolutionizing customer service: MaestroQA’s integration with Amazon Bedrock for actionable insight Amazon Web Services BAM Forms Joint Committee with GPBM to Improve Bank Customer Service in Morocco - Morocco World News Launch of New Districtwide Customer Service Platform The School District of Philadelphia My Utilities Account City of Santa Clara (.gov) Customer Service Center apps.tampagov.net Zomato lays off 500 employees from customer service roles The Economic Times "Wynning" customer service, how Wynn Auto Detailing has succeeded in Madison County Richmond Register 311 - Birmingham’s Customer Service Center City of Birmingham, Alabama (.gov) Welcome to Riverside Public Utilities City of Riverside California (.gov) RBI to focus on customer service, financial inclusion says RBI Gov Deccan Chronicle Running our contact centers on Azure Microsoft Fulton County Recognizes National Customer Service Week Fulton County (.gov) Dutch regulator calls out Lucky 7 Casino for customer service failings igamingbusiness.com 354th FSS gains new Customer Service Portal eielson.af.mil 11 key elements of excellent customer service Business.com Social Security is telling its staff that customer service is about to get a lot worse Business Insider Customer service transformation Capgemini Unleashing the value of customer service Capgemini Small, locally-owned waste management company says top-notch customer service is its No. 1 priority. Beneath the Surface News Attorney General Bonta Demands Better Customer Service for Californians State of California - Department of Justice (.gov) Sales & Customer Service Lake Michigan College Fulton County Recognized as a 2024 National Customer Service All Star Fulton County (.gov) |
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