Customers Say They Get No Respect Online

July 7, 2005 | Anita Campbell

The largest 100 companies in the United States don’t do a very good job responding to customers online, as a general rule.

Only 35% of the largest companies achieved a rating of good or excellent in the way they treat customers online.

The others fall down in a number of different areas:

Almost half of the largest companies do not respond to emails promptly. Only 58% of emails were answered within a day of being sent.
Only 42% of firms provide FAQs, a site map and site search.
30% of firms do not guard privacy, sharing customer data without permission.

This data comes from the fourth annual Customer Respect study (PDF) by the Customer Respect Group, a research firm based in Ireland and the U.S.

Although the study tends to have a consumer focus, some of the lessons apply to the small business segment.

Of the top ten rated companies, most of them count small businesses among their customer segments. The top ten companies are (in order): Hewlett Packard, Medco, Sprint, Intel, American Express, United Parcel Service, Bank of America, Microsoft, Dell and Wachovia.

Remember that the Web is a critically important channel for selling to small businesses. A vendor’s website is the front door for SMBs. Your website may be the only contact a small business has with your company.

And small businesses tend to start out with a ”complex” from the get-go – they feel like Rodney Dangerfield, that they get no respect. How they are treated on a vendor’s website is a critical part of the impression they get. Their sense of getting “no respect” will either be reinforced — or not.

When selling to small businesses, don’t forget the online experience, because it is crucial.

Tags: Business; small business; sales; ecommerce