Although customer service standards remain below par in Australia, consumers have rated small businesses better than big organisations at delivering a positive customer experience.
According to the American Express Global Customer Service Barometer, a study conducted across 11 countries, 78 percent of local consumers said small businesses deliver a more personal customer experience than large organisations.
Alarmingly though, the study also found a third of consumers believe local businesses are paying less attention to service in the current economic climate – placing Australia first in the global customer service dissatisfaction rankings.
The number of Australians who believe that businesses don’t care about their customers is also growing – from 10 to 13 percent year-on-year.
The good news from the research for SMBs is that 72 percent of consumers feel smaller firms better understand their customers than do the bigger businesses.
American Express head of small business services Jason Fryer said running a small business presents a great opportunity to get to know your customers and what services they require.
“… and it is pleasing to see that Australian small businesses are taking advantage of this and delivering great customer service,” he said.
But with two thirds of consumers revealing they’ve abandoned a purchase due to poor service in the past year, Fryer said SMBs need to keep up their service standards in order to not miss out on sales.
What’s your experience? Do small businesses really deliver better service than big organisations?
