Four in five Americans (81 percent) believe that smaller companies place a greater emphasis on customer service than large businesses, according to a new report by the American Express Global Customer Service Barometer. The survey, exploring attitudes and preferences toward customer service, was conducted in the U.S. and nine other countries.
According to the report, 73 percent of respondents said they would be willing to spend more time with a company that they believe provides excellent customer service and 70 percent of Americans are willing to spend an average of 13 percent more money with companies they believe provide excellent customer service. This is up from last year, when 58 percent of Americans said they would spend an average of 9 percent more with companies that deliver greater service.
Overall, most Americans (60 percent) believe businesses haven’t increased their focus on providing good customer service and 26 percent believe companies are actually paying less attention to service.
When there is poor customer service, 78 percent of respondents said they bailed on the transaction. Three out of five Americans (59 percent) said they would try a new brand or company for a better service experience and two out of five Americans (39 percent) said that, in anger, they have threatened to switch to a competitor.
