Last week, I awoke to an unsurprising but fairly depressing article in The Age (also in Sydney Morning Herald) about cranky Australian consumers. It detailed the results of an American Express survey, which rated Australian consumers’ dissatisfaction with customer service standards as second only to Italians’. One third of Australian consumers thought businesses were paying less attention to customer service in the current economic climate – and almost half (46%) thought there was no extra effort made to retain their business. Coupled with the inexorable migration of consumers to online purchasing, it doesn’t paint a rosy picture for Australian businesses, particularly retailers. The survey unearthed a predictable list of complaints, including:
- Poorly trained staff with little or no product knowledge
- Staff who weren’t available to help when customers were ready to spend
Clearly, when faced with difficult trading conditions, many businesses have sacrificed one of their key potential competitive advantages in the interests of protecting their bottom line. But does it? The survey also found 75% of consumers had spent more money with companies which provided good customer service. Rather than driving customers to the cut price and/or off shore competition with indifferent service, perhaps we should be aiming to increase our sales by giving an exceptional customer experience. It seems if we target the right consumers – the ones who do value great service – they are willing to spend. At Minuteman Press, we’ve certainly felt the cold winds of cut price online competition (hello Vistaprint). But we’ve also gained many ex-online buyers who have been dissatisfied with the product quality and service of a faceless cyberspace supplier, and who now choose our bricks and mortar, real person alternative. It’s tough, but it’s a choice. The customer service bar is being raised ever higher – will you be a spectator, or are you going to jump?
