While business continues to debate the actual financial cost of missed calls and poor service, Siemens Enterprise Communications is citing recent global research by credit card company American Express, which included the finding that more than half (52%) of British consumers would pay an extra seven per cent for good customer service.
The study, which included responses from 1,000 people in the UK, also found that 70 per cent of consumers are much more likely to use a company again after receiving good customer care.
Siemens Enterprise Communications says the American Express survey findings suggest UK businesses could benefit by rethinking how areas of their customer support fit together. It argues that if small firms take some practical steps to improve a particular aspect of their service – such as communications – they can strengthen their customer relationships and reduce costs to help drive longer term growth.
Leon Mangan, channel sales director of Siemens Enterprise Communications, said: “In our experience, many small firms have invested in multiple communications channels but don’t co-ordinate them properly to improve the services they provide.
“For example, small firms that set up ‘one number’ unified communications handle incoming calls better and respond faster to customer queries. Many also waste money on mobile devices subscriptions for their staff when setting up a ‘one number’ approach would strip out much of these costs.”
Siemens Enterprise Communications is actively campaigning for more practical support for Britain’s businesses. It has launched a competition for small firms called the “British Business Boost”, which offers a first prize of a business growth package worth up to £50,000.
The British Business Boost competition can be entered online at http://britishbusinessboost.com until 5pm on July 31.