I just spent over 2.5 hours on the phone with a company to straighten out a problem on their website. I ordered a part for one of our cars, and they inadvertently charged me twice for it. They show the second order was canceled, but apparently no one actually got around to issuing a credit memo for it.
I've been trying to get this fixed now for 3 months! That's right, 3 months.
Can you imagine how much better their phone response time would be if they didn't have to deal with repeat callers like me?
Is your customer service failing? If you get a hold of it and take care of problems (and there will always be problems) quickly and efficiently, you will not need to employ (and pay) as many workers and your customers will be much happier.
I returned the part they sent because they sent the wrong one. Not only will the not make money on me, but they will actually lose money trying to take care of this problem. In 3 months I estimate that I have spent about 8 hours on the phone (2.5 today) with various reps and managers.
Including the cost of their toll-free number that I call (and sit on hold), they have probably spent upwards of $200 on someone that will never purchase from them again.
Could you use $200 in your business for marketing or advertising?