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Customer Service Statistics that Prove You Need to Invest in Customer Happiness

By Sharpen Admin | Data Analysis | Estimated Reading Time: 6 minutes

Happy customers give your business longevity. They have a lifetime value up to 10x that of a one-time customer. They’re more likely to buy from your company multiple times. And, they’re the top candidates predicted to turn into coveted brand advocates. You know the ones – the customers who shout your company’s praises from the rooftops (and on Twitter), completely unprompted.

On the flip side, unhappy customers drain your company’s revenue and stability. With dozens of customer service statistics to back the claim, it’s clear the business impact of unhappy customers extends beyond just customer churn. On their way out the door, unhappy customers will tarnish your name and reputation to all those who’ll listen, too.

In fact, only 1 in 25 unhappy customers will complain directly to you. The alternative? Complaining to their personal networks of friends, family, and colleagues, instead. The customer sits on those unhappy feelings and makes a quiet dash for the door without telling you what went wrong, let alone giving you the chance to fix it.

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The good news is: you and your team have a direct line to fix customer happiness. As a key influencer of the customer experience, you hold the cards to prioritize your customers’ happiness by investing in your agents, improving operations, and putting people at the center of your mission. And, data shows you should.

Here are 35 customer service statistics that prove you need to invest in your agent and customer experience to improve customer happiness

1. Some 80% of customers say your agents have the biggest impact on the customer experience – citing factors like knowledgeable, friendly, and fast help as top priorities during their customer journey. (PWC)

2. Good service is good business. A whopping 91% of customers say good service makes them more likely to purchase from a company again (Salesforce)

3. And another 80% of customers feel the experience a company offers is as important as their products and services (Salesforce)

4. One-third of customers have ditched a brand because their experience wasn’t personalized enough. (Accenture)

5. A whopping 89% of businesses now compete on the level of service they deliver to customers rather than just on their products and services. (Gartner)

6. Companies in the U.S. lose $1.6 trillion because of customers jumping to competitors due to poor customer service. (Accenture)

7. Companies leading the pack in customer experience outperformed those farther behind in CX by almost 80%. (Qualtrics)

8. Those same leading companies in customer experience have customers who are 7x more likely to purchase more from the company, 8x more likely to try additional products and services the company sells, and 15x more likely to speak positively of the company to their networks. (Qualtrics)

9. Studies from real companies show that an improved agent experience brings higher customer satisfaction and less customer effort. (Gartner)

10. Companies that deliver a better customer experience have revenue 4-8% above their peer group. (Bain & Company)

11. You can increase the value of your company by 30% with only a 10% increase in customer retention levels. (Salesforce)

12. If your agents solve an unhappy customer’s problem, 70% of those customers will shop with your company again. (Glance)

13. Dissatisfied customers tell twice as many people about their negative experience than happy customers do about their positive experience. (CCMC)

14. In the U.S., 90% of customers tell their networks about their service experiences. Would you rather them share a positive experience or a negative one? (American Express)

15. Customers who think a company has good service are 38% more likely to recommend that company to their network. (Qualtrics XM Institute)

16. Some 82% of customers have stopped doing business with a company because of their bad customer experience. (Zendesk)

17. When a customer deems themself a promoter with a high NPS score, their lifetime value is 600% – 1400% more than those with low NPS scores – your brand detractors. (Bain & Company)

18. It’s between five to 25x more expensive to acquire a new customer than it is to retain a current customer. (Harvard Business Review)

19. Only 11% of customers felt like brands genuinely cared about improving their experiences (CCW)

20. And, a slim 12% of customers felt like brands actually took action to improve their CX. (CCW)

21. Some 88% of contact centers prioritize customer experience as a means to grow their business. (Deloitte)

22. A one-second delay in e-commerce transactions decreases CSAT scores by 16%. (Cisco)

23. Some 73% of contact center leaders believe customer satisfaction needs to live on your agents’ quality scorecards. (CCW)

24. Companies that work to actively engage employees have customer loyalty rates 233% higher than those that don’t. (Aberdeen Group)

25. Millennials’ average, weekly talk-time is less than 30 minutes. The now-largest working and consumer population seeks out digital experiences through channels like social and SMS. (Shep Hyken)

26. More than two-thirds of companies with growing revenue prioritize customer satisfaction, compared to only 49% of companies with stagnant or decreasing revenue. (Neil Patel)

27. Almost half of today’s consumers won’t consider doing business with a company that has less than a four-star rating. (Neil Patel)

28. A mere 5% increase in customer retention can increase your company’s profits anywhere from 25-95%. (Bain & Company)

29. One study showed 57% of customers stopped purchasing from a company because of a competitor who delivered a better experience. (Salesforce)

30. Repeat customers convert at a 60-70% higher rate compared to new prospects, who fall in the 5-20% zone. (Marketing Metrics)

31. More than one million people sift through tweets about customer service on a weekly basis. And, 80% of those tweets are negative. (Business2Community)

32. Two-thirds of customers are only willing to wait on hold for two minutes or less (Arise)

33. Some 86% of customer service professionals think customers are smarter and more informed now than ever before. (HubSpot)

34. Small businesses rake in some serious revenue from brand advocates, with 85% saying the number-one way they get customers is by word-of-mouth. (Small Business Trends)

35. And finally, 65% of U.S. customers think that a positive experience with a company is more influential than stellar advertising. (PWC)

Devote your attention to creating better experiences for your customers, and you’ll have the bottom-line growth and a loyal customer base to show for it.

We originally published this post on January 8, 2019, and we updated it on April 29, 2021.