Is excellent customer service your passport to business success?
When it comes to tailor-made travel experiences, of course, you must provide your clients with exquisitely tailored packages that impress and excite them.
The high-end experience, however, should start much sooner than the departure gate. A customer should feel like he or she is being treated to top-of-the-line customer service right from the very beginning of the process.
Customer service is an excellent focus for any business, but can we actually measure its benefits in a tangible way? The short answer is yes, and the longer answer is the rest of this article.
Below are some of the many facts and figures behind the customer service experience and why they matter, specifically for your tour and travel company.
Why Is Customer Retention Important?
While attracting new customers is key to growing your business, research suggests that loyal customers are far more profitable. In fact, it is 6-7 times more expensive for companies to attract new customers than it is to keep existing customers.
Focusing on retention, therefore, can have a big impact. Research by Frederick Reicheld of Bain & Company (the inventor of the Net Promoter Score, or NPS), working with Earl Sasser of Harvard Business School, strongly suggests that by improving retention by just 5 percent, businesses can increase profits from 25% to 95%.
The profitability of customer retention isn’t just evident when it comes to cost; customers who have been with your company longer will generate more ongoing business.
The Importance of ‘Customer Experience’
It’s easy to assume that the biggest factor affecting where customers do their business is cost, but the reality is often quite different. The service experience plays a much more significant role in determining where customers are willing to spend their money.
American Express’ 2014 Global Customer Service Barometer found;
Consumers spend more on companies providing excellent service
- 74% of consumers say they have spent more with a company because of a history of positive customer service experiences
- 68% of consumers state that they are willing to spend an average of 14% more with a company they believe provides excellent customer service
Providing excellent service also helps companies attract new customers
- Providing ‘excellent customer service’ is the second most important factor consumers consider when choosing a company with which to do business.
The Huffington Post provides “50 Important Customer Experience Statistics for Business Leaders“. In this article, Esteban Kolsky, CEO of thinkJar, offers some extremely powerful and thought-provoking statistics.
- 86% of consumers are willing to pay more for an upgraded experience.
- 55% of consumers are willing to pay more for a guaranteed good experience. Kolsky points out the word ‘guaranteed’, noting customers are no longer satisfied with just being promised a good experience.
- 13% of customers will tell 15 or more people if they’re unhappy. Conversely, 72% of consumers will share a positive experience with 6 or more people.
- 67% of consumers cite bad experiences as a reason for churn.
- 91% of unhappy customers who are non-complainers simply leave.
- 65% of companies are able to successfully up-sell or cross-sell to existing customers.
- Only 12% of companies are able to successfully up-sell or cross-sell to new customers.
Why Is Efficient Travel Software a Solution?
One of the most effective ways to improve your service, and avoid losing your valuable customers, is by giving them your time. Therefore, it is crucial to be as efficient as possible in your business processes. In fact, American Express’ 2014 Global Customer Service Barometer found that the most important attribute of successful customer service is efficiency.
Travel agency software, like Tourwriter, means spending less time on administrative tasks, giving you more time to focus on providing your clients with a truly excellent travel experience; from their initial contact through to the end of their journey.
