South: NewVoiceMedia survey shows poor service is driving customers away

A new survey by NewVoiceMedia, a leading global provider of cloud technology aimed at helping businesses sell more, serve better and grow faster, reveals that UK companies are still losing £11 billion a year due to poor customer service.  However,  since the first survey in 2013, the number of UK consumers who report leaving a business due to inadequate customer experiences has decreased from 50% to 42%.

The main reasons given for turning one’s back on a company remain the same as previously: feeling unappreciated (44% of those dissatisfied), unhelpful/rude staff (35%), being passed around to multiple people (33%), not being able to get answers (27 %), being fed up of queuing (27%) and not being able to speak to a person (25%).

There are no real surprises in the details of what the survey reveals: 61% of customers feel a phone call is the quickest way of resolving an issue though 49% indicate emailing is their preferred method of communication; being kept on hold is the main reason customers dislike calling companies, though they are also put off by not being able to speak to a ‘real person’ and by having to navigate multiple menus.