The principles that guide effortless customer experiences seem basic:

• Don’t make me wait
• Make it easy to access service
• Provide me with a knowledgeable and helpful service team member
• Create easy processes
• Know who I am

The truth is, it’s difficult to get customer service basics right, and many organizations don’t. While customer service catastrophes still make headlines, run-of-the-mill customer service annoyances are still maddeningly common. And the consequences to businesses are dire. You’ve perhaps seen these or similar statistics: 88 percent of customers consider customer service when they contemplate a purchase, and 58 percent will stop doing business with a company after a poor service experience.*

For customer-focused companies who exist to provide effortless, pleasant, and sometimes dazzling customer experiences, this is their life’s work. They know customer service is both a frequent customer touchpoint and a well-known source of dissatisfaction. As a result, resolving service frustrations is often among the first stops for any organization working to improve customer experiences.

Excerpt from Leading the Customer Experience: How to Chart a Course and Deliver Outstanding Results by Brad Cleveland

*Statistic from Microsoft Dynamics 365 (2020) Global state of customer service: the transformation of customer service from 2015 to present day, https://info.microsoft.com/ww-landing-global-state-of-customer-service.html (archived at https://perma.cc/UL2N-JCYC).