Why Great Customer Service Isn’t Just Important, It's a Necessity
As a seasoned customer support leader, the value of customer service is very clear to me.
I’ve spent the last decade totally immersed in the practice and profession of serving and delighting customers, and I’ve been privileged to see how doing so leads to better products and healthier, longer-lasting companies.
If there’s one downside to all of that experience, though, it’s that it’s easy to assume that what’s obvious to me is obvious to everyone.
If you’re a small business owner, a CFO, or an ecommerce ops manager, the importance of customer service to your business may not seem quite so clear. You’ve got a million other priorities, so it’s natural that you’d have questions.
Luckily, I’ve got answers, and I think it’s time for business leaders to take another look.
Five reasons why customer service is so important for business success
Whether you’re just starting out, feeling major growing pains, or already well established, it’s a fact that you always need to be strategic about where and how you use your resources.
Maybe great customer support seems like a luxury you can’t afford.
I get it — but let me show you why customer service is incredibly important for your business and is worth investing in.
1. You can't have a real business without it
I know what you're thinking: That's a bold statement with which to start this list!
But in truth, all the other items here are basically sub-arguments for this primary one: No business can survive without customers.
Fundamentally, all businesses are run on trust. You trust your customers to pay you a fair price for the product you made, and your customers trust you to deliver a fully functional product that's worth the money they spent on it.
But, as a savvy business leader, you don't want the trust cycle to end there.
You want those customers to come back and buy other products. You also want your customers to trust in your company so much that they'll tell their friends and family about it and turn them into loyal customers, too.
Here’s the thing — you foster and grow that customer trust and loyalty by showing up for them after the sale is over:
When they have a problem, they know they can contact your customer support team.
When they're not sure how best to use your product, they know your customer support team is there to provide expert advice.
When they want to know every nook and cranny of your product, they have your user manual or help center just waiting for a deep dive.
When they've thought up an improvement that would make your product even better, your support team is ready to take their feedback and work with the rest of the company to make it a reality.
Fast, personalized, accurate customer support is quite possibly the greatest differentiator for a business competing in the age of the internet, when customers have a veritable smorgasbord of options from which to choose.
Great customer service is the key to customer retention. If your company isn't investing in your customers’ success by offering high-caliber customer service, they'll find one that will.
We'll explore all of these reasons further in this list, but essentially they all come down to this: The quality of customer support you offer determines how much your customers trust your brand, how long they stay with your company, and how much money they spend on your products.
Without customer support, you don't have a business — at least not for long.
2. You'll foster trust in your brand and retain customers
It doesn't matter if you're selling a physical item or software; when your customers encounter a roadblock with your product, they’ll naturally turn to you for help removing it.
In these moments, it’s vital for your business to show them that you’re there for them, because 90% of customers say high-quality service is instrumental in creating trust. If you miss or mishandle an opportunity to turn around a bad experience, you may not get them back; 65% of customers say they’ll switch to a different brand after a bad customer service experience.
If you want to retain customers and grow your bottom line over time, you need to do several things:
Demonstrate that you value their time by providing self-service resources like a help center.
Care about getting them timely help by answering their questions quickly and accurately.
Show your commitment to their success by offering this level of service consistently.
When you reward your customers' trust, they’ll reward you in return.
Customers are more likely to make another purchase when a company offers great support. They’ll also be more forgiving and willing to overlook a mistake if the service is otherwise excellent.
That kind of trust builds more than individual relationships — it builds reputations, too. News of good service gets around — nearly 70% of consumers say they’ll spend more with a brand that has a great reputation for customer service.
3. You'll form long-lasting (and lucrative) relationships
Speaking of relationships, keeping customers is not unlike maintaining a long-term romance.
You have to be patient, keep your promises, be attentive, and actively communicate. Most of all, you never want to take their partnership for granted.
It takes work, but the end result is an enduring and rewarding relationship for both of you.
If you take the time to get to know your customers and understand their needs and goals to personalize their support experiences, they’ll stick around. In fact, 70% of customers consider this fundamental to a longer tenure with a brand.
Outstanding customer service also comes in other forms. Providing extra resources or discounts as rewards for repeat customers is a great way to show appreciation for their loyalty and encourage them to stay for the long haul.
And longevity is lucrative. Say it costs you $500 to acquire a customer and you're charging them $50/month. You need to retain that customer for 10 months to recoup your initial investment. Every month after that contributes positively to your bottom line.
Retain the customer for 12 months total? You're $100 in the green.
Retain them for an additional year? You're $700 in the green.
On top of growing profits, improvement in retention also brings other benefits — like freeing up your sales team to chase down additional growth.
4. You'll turn your customers into evangelists and earn referrals
Customers talk to each other.
They’ve always talked to each other about their experiences with products, but the internet has amplified their voices exponentially, providing customers with real power in shaping the reputations of brands that have wowed them — or wronged them.
However, the internet has also brought an explosion of product options, which requires customers to do at least some research before they’re comfortable making a purchase.
Review sites play a big role in these decisions — 75% of consumers report always or regularly reading online reviews when evaluating local businesses. Recommendations from friends and family are also powerful, with 72% of customers talking about their experiences with businesses in person.
The same percentage of satisfied customers will talk about their support experience with others, on average telling six or more people about it. A whopping 94% of American customers will recommend a company when they’ve received great customer service. On the flip side, less than 15% of customers will recommend a company with which they’ve had a bad experience.
Customer referrals don’t just mean more potential customers headed your way. Research shows that in industries like ecommerce, referrals typically have a higher conversion rate, especially for smaller sellers.
Customers want to recommend brands and products they enjoy, especially when their customer service needs have been well met. And the happier they are, the more they do!
5. You'll build a better product
Customer evangelists and power users are highly skilled at uncovering a product's quirks and limitations, and they’re equally talented at discovering improvements that open new avenues for innovation.
Savvy business leaders know how valuable that kind of feedback is for growing their business and staying competitive. Establishing a feedback loop to get customers’ knowledge into the right hands is essential, and a good support team is a pivotal part of that process.
Not only are customer service agents usually power users themselves, but staying so close to customers allows them to gather and synthesize real-world information about your product that product managers and engineers otherwise wouldn’t have access to.
Your customer support team can help others evaluate and prioritize the features and improvements that are most important to customers, making it easier for your whole organization to focus on the most valuable, impactful work.
Once that work is completed, your customer service team can close the loop with customers. Aside from delivering a great product, this has the added benefit of showing customers how you value their feedback and take action in response.
Committing to great customer service is just the beginning
The research and data is overwhelmingly clear: Customer service isn't just a nice-to-have, and it’s certainly not a cost center.
If you’re still looking for more proof, you can always calculate your customer service ROI to understand the math behind how your customer service team impacts your company’s success.
Consistently great customer service is absolutely essential for acquiring new customers, retaining existing customers, and driving sustainable business growth over the long term. Investing in excellent customer service is one of the most important things your business can do to ensure its long-term success.
Steph Lundberg
Steph is a writer and fractional Customer Support leader and consultant. When she’s not screaming into the void for catharsis, you can find her crafting, hanging with her kids, or spending entirely too much time on Tumblr.
