Good customer service can make or break a business. Even if you have the best product or service on the market, customers will likely go elsewhere if they don’t feel they’ve been treated well.
According to the United States Small Business Administration, almost 78 percent of customers leave a business if they’re upset with the treatment they’ve received. These other statistics prove a similar point:
- Satisfied customers tell an average of nine people about their positive experience, while dissatisfied ones are likely to tell 22 people about their negative experience.
- About 85 percent customers say the experiences provided by a company are as important to them as its products and services.
- Research shows that 59 percent of people would try a new company to receive better customer service.
- Maximizing satisfaction with customer journeys has the potential not only to increase customer satisfaction by 20 percent but also to lift revenue by up to 15 percent while lowering the cost of serving customers by as much as 20 percent.
Building Brand Loyalty
As a medical billing company, good customer service can only add to the service you provide to your customers. There’s another benefit, though, to treating your customers with the highest level of service: customer engagement.
Defined as the means by which a company creates a relationship with its customer base to foster brand loyalty and awareness, customer engagement boosts brand experience, increases customer loyalty and trust, provides valuable customer feedback and insight and increases sales funnel velocity. In fact, engaged customers generate 1.7 times more revenue than normal customers.
Procuring Referrals and Retention
Customer referrals, which you can procure from a variety of sources, from past and current clients to prospects and affiliates, are one of the biggest benefits of customer engagement. Most marketers rate referrals as the second-highest source of quality leads. If your medical billing customers are referring your services to others, that means you’ve achieved a high engagement level.
Research has shown that consumers often invest in a product or service based on referrals instead of advertising. Approximately 97 percent of customers will tell others about very good or excellent service experiences.
Engaged customers also typically improve a business’s retention rate. Plus, they save on more costly efforts to attract new customers – it costs five times as much to attract a new customer than to keep an existing one. The following statistics highlight the positive effect engaged customers can have on your company:
- Approximately 80 percent of your company’s future revenue will come from just 20 percent of your existing customers.
- Increasing customer retention rates by five percent increases profits by 25-95 percent.
- The probability of selling to an existing customer is 60-70 percent compared to five to 20 percent for a new customer.
Communicating with Customers
If your business experiences a high churn rate, it probably indicates a multitude of problems, including poor customer engagement initiatives. However, there are things you can do to promote customer engagement, the first of which is improving your company’s customer service. Try to personalize each customer experience. Ask your customers, both current and prospective, about their specific business needs and goals.
Ask your satisfied customers to provide referrals and participate in reviews for your company, and consider giving them an incentive for doing so. Create, maintain and promote your brand image through a variety of outlets, including your website and social media outlets. Train those who represent your company to great customers in a unique and personalized manner to differentiate yourself from competitors.
Offering prospective clients a free trial is an easy and affordable way to engage them. It’s your chance to show them the advantages you can provide for them and why they should invest in your services.
At 4D Global, our clients are the backbone of our business success. Learn how you can integrate your U.S.-based team with our global team of healthcare experts.