It’s often inexplicable and always sad when we lose a valued customer, isn’t it? Perhaps there have been no verbal complaints, no inability to provide the needed item when shopping, no hint of dissatisfaction…and then, suddenly, the just customer stops coming. What happened? Leaving the question unanswered is like a pilot flying with a gaping hole in the side of the aircraft and since that’s normally catastrophic, continues flying on course hoping it doesn’t prove to be a problem. In business it’s better to know the issue and fix it than to hemorrhage other losses. So why do we lose customers?

               Location. Sometimes a customer moves or a competing business moves closer to their home and meets their need. It’s understandable and perhaps the easiest loss to accept.

               Online competition. Amazon with their free shipping is just too easy, but I’m hoping that our people begin to see the drawbacks. Sometimes products mass-produced in China lack the workmanship we want. Sometimes the sizing is way off. Sometimes there’s a wait because while Amazon ships overnight, the product itself is on a slow boat coming down the Yellow River. We paid for a chair that six months later still had no delivery date in sight. And it wasn’t coming from China.

               Price point. My wise old mother was famous for saying (almost daily), “You only get what you pay for.” Her maxim often proved true. A low price point was very often equivalent to shoddy quality.

               But none of these are the number one reason for losing customers. According to a recent publication from Customer Service Insight, 60% of all customers stop shopping with a particular company because of perceived indifference by the wait staff. Sixty percent! Of course we all have an “off” day upon occasion, but be sure to place engaging and helpful people on the floor or at checkout. I recently visited a local business and a young gal greeted me when I entered, but she remained seated behind the counter while I looked around the store. She only spoke to me when I addressed her. Her responses weren’t very helpful Would I refuse to shop there again? No, because I want to support this local business…but was I impressed? Not in the least. Very mediocre service costs us big time.

               Forbes offered two different statistics along the same lines. 83% of customers who were interviewed said they would switch companies because of a negative shopping experience. Now look at the next number. 79% said they would switch companies with the expectation a comparable business would offer better customer service. Let’s look at this scenario. A shopper regularly pops into your business is satisfied with you and your staff and your products and your prices. Then her friend raves over another store and just like that—presto! She’s ready to flip on you because of a perceived improvement in customer service without ever having experienced it herself. That’s scary!

               There’s been a lot of chatter over influencers recently, and this explains the trend to somehow work a “business creator” into your budget. We’ve entered an age where you may need a cheerleader to post, tweet, and blog your shop into customers’ hearts.

               Forbes went on to list the reasons why 1000 respondents would leave a company:

67% due to rudeness or apathy in an employee

63% due to inability to obtain personalized customer support

62% due to inconsistent information, as in sales, promotions or returns

57% due to long hold times when trying to reach the business

53% due to slow message response

43% due to lack of self-service options

In short, it’s hard to stay in business because we, the people, may just be pickier, harder to deal with, have higher expectations and want to pay less no matter what. That includes you and me, because when I read the research for this article, I saw myself several times, and in all honesty, thought maybe I might need to move myself into the picky category.