Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Customers customers customers...

  • Most dissatisfied customers do not complain to us – probably only 4-5 percent bother. One estimate is that for every single customer who brings us a complaint, another 26 probably also have problems. Six of which are like to be serious, and do not complain to us. The silent majority defect to a competitor, or put up with us being bad and defect.
  • Dissatisfied customers tell everyone except us. In consumer markets the estimate is that the disgruntled customer tells about 14 others.
  • Dissatisfied customers buy less – and seem to do their best to get other to buy less as well
  • Typically the cost of complaint resolution is 10-25 percent of the cost of finding a new customer
  • When complaints are resolved satisfactorily these customers tend to be more than those who never experienced a problem in the first place.

But why do so many customers not complain:

  • They did not think it would make any difference
  • They did not think it was worth their time and effort
  • They did not know what they had to do to get help
  • They never got round to it


Share your examples when such dissatisfaction occurred in your life and you complained (or didn't complain) and what was the result of the same?

Hoping to hear from you all GLOBAL visitors...


References:
Doyle, Peter (2002), Marketing Management and Strategy, 3rd Ed., Hamel Hempstead: FT – Prentice Hall.
Walther, George, R. (1194), Upside-down marketing, New York: McGraw Hill.
Barley, Peter (1994), ‘Looking for Trouble’, Marketing Business, September, pp. 21-24.