The role of customer service in collections

How often do you think about what’s most important to your customers? Sure, you have finely-tuned marketing plans and you set goals each quarter, but how much energy is spent specifically on honing your company’s customer service skills?

It turns out that it’s just about the most vital component of a business’s success.

Look at it like this: what matters to your customers must matter to you. Your customers aren’t going to come to you for a product or service they can receive somewhere down the road. You need to stand out and make your customers feel valued and appreciated. One proven way to do that? Elevating the customer experience.

Here are some eye-opening statistics underscoring the importance of the customer experience.

• Research from global professional accounting services firm, PwC, shows 86% of customers are willing to pay more for a product if they receive excellent customer service.
• A report from Segment, a customer data platform, shows that 71% of consumers express frustration when they receive impersonal customer service. The report goes on to state that 49% of customers have made impulse purchases after receiving personalized customer service.
• American Express research shows that 90% of customers report customer service is the deciding factor when choosing to do business with a company. This survey found that 49% of customers have switched companies due to poor customer service.
• According to HubSpot research, 93% of customers remain loyal to a company that offers excellence in customer service.
• New Voice Media reports that $62 billion is lost by U.S. businesses each year because of poor customer service.

These statistics are startling to many, but once you recognize them as facts, they help reiterate just how important the customer service experience is in keeping your customers happy, satisfied, and more likely to do business with your company again and again.

You know customer service is important – you may even be thinking that this is a no-brainer. However, it is important to consider how much time and effort your organization invests to extend the best customer service possible. Many businesses, though, may find resources strained now and then, and training for customer service may not always be top of mind. Without ongoing effective training, you may find your organization unable to handle customer service requests in the best way possible. A perfect solution for your company would be to outsource certain functions.

One area where this can be especially beneficial is debt collection. Some may think that those who are behind in payments may not need to best customer service. However, you never know what circumstances have caused a customer to be in this position. And exceptional customer service can help in handling the situation.

No company likes to take on the task of collecting overdue bills, but hiring the right debt collection firm — one focused on providing the best in customer service to you and your clients is vital. It can make all the difference in both the quality of your company’s customer experience and your success in collecting what’s owed to you and your business.