“The State of Customer Service or Disservice in The U.S. – Awesome, Adequate or Abysmal? “
“The State of Customer Service or Disservice in The U.S. – Awesome, Adequate or Abysmal? “
By: J. Glenn Ebersole, Jr., Chief Executive of J. G. Ebersole Associates and The Renaissance Group ™
Many companies are touting world class, first class, and/or high quality customer service today. However, as a strategic thinking business coach, I wonder about the true state of customer service in the U.S. What is the real level of customer service being delivered – is it Awesome, Adequate or Abysmal?
As I pondered this question I learned that there is a National Customer Service Week celebrated in the United States. Imagine that. And why not, we have National (you fill in the blank here) Week for most everything today. National Customer Service Week was proclaimed by Congress in 1992 with a pronouncement declaring “if the United States is to remain a leader in the changing global economy, highest quality customer service must be a personal goal of every employee in business and industry.”
So, what is the “state of customer service” in the U.S.? I found a source of information to help answer that question in survey results released by Accenture, the giant consulting firm. Some highlights from the Fall, 2006 results include:
1. Nearly 50% of respondents to the survey switched at least one service provider over the past year because they felt they did not receive the respect they deserved.
2. 18% of retail customers took their business somewhere else due to poor customer service.
3. 15% of people with Internet accounts switched providers.
4. 14% of bank customers switched banks.
5. 12% of wire-line phone customers switched providers.
6. 11% of cell-phone customers switched providers.
It seems to me like there is a “whole lot of switching going on” due to poor customer service. And if companies truly recognize the importance of good customer service and realize that neglecting any aspect of good customer service risks losing customers to competitors, why do we see such results as above? And why do some companies think they can get away with rude and/or uninformed or misinformed sales people or service representatives? Or worse, why do some companies believe their customer service is awesome, when in reality it is abysmal?
How do you rate the customer service in your business? And more importantly, how do your customers rate your customer service? As your strategic thinking business coach, I ask you to be brutally honest when you respond to the questions. Is your customer service awesome, adequate or abysmal in the eyes of your customers? Please remember, I ask you to be brutally honest in your responses. I hope you will be, because if you are not and if you choose to be in denial about the true level of your customer service, your customers will provide you with a rude awakening by switching to your competitors.
If you have honestly admitted that your customer service is just adequate or abysmal in the eyes of your customers and in your own opinion, then I hope you will want to take some immediate action. If you want to learn how to take some very proactive and decisive actions to address your customer service issues, and change the satisfaction level to awesome, please contact Glenn Ebersole today through his website at www.businesscoach4u.com or by email at jgecoach@aol.com.
The State of Customer Service or Disservice in The US Awesome Adequate or Abysmal - To learn more about this author, visit Glenn Ebersole's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
“The State of Customer Service or Disservice in The U.S. – Awesome, Adequate or Abysmal? “
By: J. Glenn Ebersole, Jr., Chief Executive of J. G. Ebersole Associates and The Renaissance Group ™
Many companies are touting world class, first class, and/or high quality customer service today. However, as a strategic thinking business coach, I wonder about the true state of customer service in the U.S. What is the real level of customer service being delivered – is it Awesome, Adequate or Abysmal?
As I pondered this question I learned that there is a National Customer Service Week celebrated in the United States. Imagine that. And why not, we have National (you fill in the blank here) Week for most everything today. National Customer Service Week was proclaimed by Congress in 1992 with a pronouncement declaring “if the United States is to remain a leader in the changing global economy, highest quality customer service must be a personal goal of every employee in business and industry.”
So, what is the “state of customer service” in the U.S.? I found a source of information to help answer that question in survey results released by Accenture, the giant consulting firm. Some highlights from the Fall, 2006 results include:
1. Nearly 50% of respondents to the survey switched at least one service provider over the past year because they felt they did not receive the respect they deserved.
2. 18% of retail customers took their business somewhere else due to poor customer service.
3. 15% of people with Internet accounts switched providers.
4. 14% of bank customers switched banks.
5. 12% of wire-line phone customers switched providers.
6. 11% of cell-phone customers switched providers.
It seems to me like there is a “whole lot of switching going on” due to poor customer service. And if companies truly recognize the importance of good customer service and realize that neglecting any aspect of good customer service risks losing customers to competitors, why do we see such results as above? And why do some companies think they can get away with rude and/or uninformed or misinformed sales people or service representatives? Or worse, why do some companies believe their customer service is awesome, when in reality it is abysmal?
How do you rate the customer service in your business? And more importantly, how do your customers rate your customer service? As your strategic thinking business coach, I ask you to be brutally honest when you respond to the questions. Is your customer service awesome, adequate or abysmal in the eyes of your customers? Please remember, I ask you to be brutally honest in your responses. I hope you will be, because if you are not and if you choose to be in denial about the true level of your customer service, your customers will provide you with a rude awakening by switching to your competitors.
If you have honestly admitted that your customer service is just adequate or abysmal in the eyes of your customers and in your own opinion, then I hope you will want to take some immediate action. If you want to learn how to take some very proactive and decisive actions to address your customer service issues, and change the satisfaction level to awesome, please contact Glenn Ebersole today through his website at www.businesscoach4u.com or by email at jgecoach@aol.com.
The State of Customer Service or Disservice in The US Awesome Adequate or Abysmal - To learn more about this author, visit Glenn Ebersole's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
 | |
 |
No article feedback found. |
| |
Leave Your Feedback |
 | |
| |||
David BarrDavid Barr is the President of Venture Opportunities, Inc. David has been a professional business broker/intermediary since 1980 focusing on General Business Brokerage and Mergers and Acquisitions representing client transaction value from $400,000 to $20,000,000. Mr. Barr has handled the sale of over four hundred and fifty companies. David earned a university degree from the State University of New York majoring in economics and business. David holds the Mergers and Acquisition Master Intermediary and the Certified Business Intermediary designations from the International Business Brokers Association. He is also a Senior Business Analyst and a Texas licensed Real Estate Agent. For more information about David and Venture Opportunities, visit www.bizdealmaker.com. - Visit David Barr's Website |
|||
David AchesonDavid Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns. David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website |
|||
Stephanie RobeyStephanie Robey is President and CoFounder of Pivot Positive, LLC - an Internet marketing business focused on helping people start work at home ventures. Previously, she was employed at The Search Agency with over 20 years experience in graphic design and 10 years experience in online marketing. She was responsible for launching the Conversion Path Optimization (CPO) unit where she and her team have conducted hundreds of optimization tests for online companies across multiple verticals. She is a successful entrepreneur having started and sold 2 companies and remains on the board of directors of the third, PhotoSpin.com Stephanie began her career in the direct marketing realm creating and producing direct mail for many of the major cable television companies and directly attributes her understanding of Internet marketing to those early offline experiences. Stephanie is a graduate of San Diego State University with a BFA in Graphic Arts and also holds an Executive MBA from the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University. Read Steph's Blog Meet Steph and Dave Sign up for our Free 7-Day BootCamp: Self Employed & Rich - Visit Stephanie Robey's Website |
|||
|
To learn more about the Evan Elite Author Program please contact us. | |||
 | |
|  |
Subscribe to Glenn's articles
 | |
|
|  |
 | |
|
| |
 | ||
 |
||
 |
||
|
||
|
| ||
 |
| Have you written articles that would be of value to entrepreneurs? Become an expert on our site by publishing them! Expose yourself to a wide audience, drive more traffic to your website and get more sales! Click Here for details. |
|
|
 |
| Modeling the Masters: Learn the true secrets behind Walt Disney's business success factors & grow your company! Video produced by Phanta Media |
|
|
 |
"Learn straight from Evan how you can Make a Full Time Income (And More) from a Website"
Click Here To Learn More |
|
|
|
|
Get advice & tips from famous business owners, new articles by entrepreneur experts, my latest website updates, & special sneak peaks at what's to come!
|
|
 |
 EQ SUCCESS STORIES Radical Green Business Addictive Entrepreneurship Success Worksheet The $1000 Show |
|
 | ||
 |
Top 50 Productivity Blogs
Top Blogs To Watch In 2008 | |
 |
Guide To ERP Software
Business Management Software | |
| ||
 | ||||
| ||||
|
| ||||
| ||||
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||
|
Email us your ideas on how to make our website more valuable! Thank you Sharon from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for your suggestions to make the newsletter look like the website and profile younger entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez and Sean Combs!
|
|
|
| ||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||