This recent study finds that consumers will pay more for a great customer experience:

• 55% of North American consumers have become a customer of a company because of their reputation for great customer service
  
• 40% began purchasing from a competitive brand simply because of their reputation for great customer service
  

85% of consumers are willing to pay a premium for great customer service:

76% would pay 5% more
55% would pay 10% more
27% would pay 15% more
18% would pay 20% more
10% would pay 25% more

The study determined that customer service is the most influential thing a company can do to increase customer advocacy: 55% of consumers recommend a company because of its customer service (49% recommend for its products, 42% recommend for its price).

Source: RightNow Technologies "Customer Experience Report North America”

AND:

While this E-blast may be its own advertisement, the stats it includes gives credence to its call for smarter power for a smarter planet.

• In North America people lose 4.4 billion hours every year sitting in traffic, burning 2.3 billion gallons of fuel
  
• In North America every year $57 billion worth of food is thrown away and we experience 90 million cases of food-borne illnesses
  
• Retailers (with 6-8 months lead time) stockpile $1.4 trillion in merchandise and miss $111 billion in sales every year – simply because they don't have the right inventory in stock.

 

Source: IBM

With acknowledgement to our Canadian colleagues from cosmetics magazine