Featured Image for the blog: The 5 Business Costs of a Low CSAT Score

Almost half of today’s consumers won’t even think about doing business with you unless you have a four-star rating. Your customers’ ratings affect your potential for new business. But, even worse for your business, your customers’ dissatisfaction and low CSAT scores threaten the relationship you have with your customers.

And, of course, those low scores negatively impact all the benefits that come with those relationships, too. Companies with highly satisfied customers drive brand loyalty. They have customers who are 7x more likely to repeat purchases, 8x more likely to buy additional products or services, and 15x more likely to recommend the company to their network.

Because happy customers drive such postive impacts to a company’s bottom line, some 57 percent of contact center leaders marked CSAT as an urgent investment priority in 2019.

A low CSAT score makes it hard to achieve positive business results. Use your customer feedback and survey data to invest in change that will up your CSAT scores. When you don’t, these are the business costs you can expect.

A disconnect from your current customers.

A study by Dimension Data found that 81 percent of companies consider customer experience a competitive differentiator. While plenty of companies want to outshine the competition when it comes to serving up positive service experiences, customers dish out low-to-average CSAT scores all too often.

Your CSAT scores are meant to drive an understanding of what your customers want, and how well you’re meeting those needs. It signals a lack of attention to your customers’ needs – and it signals a lack of empowerment from your team to live up to your idealized customer needs.

Either way, that sort of message isn’t aligned with the customer-centric concept that more than 8 in 10 companies boast. And when that misalignment happens, you push your customers away. Building a business on a mentality that exists in words alone doesn’t drive positive business results.

Fewer repeat purchases from current customers.

Your CSAT score is the average satisfaction score customers give to a specific experience they had with your company. And, while those scores change and shift as your agents handle new customer interactions, a single, excellent customer service experience drives 86 percent of customers to repeat purchases.

When interactions get flagged with a low satisfaction score, you’re missing out on the high likelihood of repeat purchases. Your customers didn’t get the treatment they expected, so they become more apt to seek out the competition.

Higher agent attrition.

The typical contact center agent gets an average of 10 hostile customer calls per day. And guess what, as customer satisfaction declines, that number of hostile calls increases. No agent wants to stick around to hop on the line and handle angry customers all. day. long. Plus, your agents are the ones driving those low-quality interactions. If they’re scrambling to keep customers happy, something’s wrong.

It might mean that they don’t have enough resources to give your customers accurate help. Or, it might mean that your tools require too many steps and are only slowing your agents down. Then, they can’t help your customers and their experience suffers. As your low CSAT scores pile in, it shows more than a lack of commitment to customer happiness. It’s a lack of commitment to the success of your team and your individual agents.

Fewer new customers.

Turns out, more than 50 percent of customers have scrapped a planned purchase with a company because of poor customer service. When organizations like J.D. Power and Temkin release their lists of best and worst-in-class-service, an appearance on the worst-in-class list means the 50 percent of people who prioritize customer service will count you out.

Plus, when your customers aren’t happy, they talk bad about you to the people in their networks. The White House Office of Consumer Affairs found that a dissatisfied customer tells between 9 to 15 people about their poor experience. And, almost 13 percent of those dissatisfied customers tell more than 20 people.

Consider your chances with those 9-20 prospects, squashed.

A less profitable business.

With fewer repeat purchasers, less brand advocates, the costs of sky-high attrition rates, and bad buzz circulating about your business, you can bet your bottom line takes a hit. All in all, low CSAT scores increase operational costs and decrease your profitability.

On the flip side, companies that deliver a better customer experience see revenue 4 to 8 percent higher than the rest of their market. There’s a direct correlation between your customers’ happiness and the money in your company’s bank account.

Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who has the highest CSAT of them all?

Your CSAT reflects the level of service you deliver to your customers. And, it’s a crucial metric that determines the strength of your customer relationships. When you don’t live up to your customers’ happiness expectations, you’ll find them seeking competitors who will.

Want to know why customer experience holds so much power in today’s competitive landscape? Find out the real value of a loyal customer. Head over to our blog on the topic. > Customer Retention vs. Customer Acquisition: Why Loyal Customers Pack More Value