We have many opportunities each day to create a positive customer experience. That should be the norm. We should focus on building the amazing and stunning. Customers should come away thinking: Wow!

If the majority of our interactions are like that, we will be loyal.

It is a truth that one day something will go wrong. A bad experience will occur. There may be a hole in our processes that has gone unnoticed. One day someone finds it and it is not pretty.

Of course, we will fix it but if the other positive experiences aren’t there to offset it, we can lose customers.

Recovery is easier if there is a foundation of trust built on many other positive experiences.

Ruby Newell-Legner, author of Understanding Customers, emphasizes that negative customer experiences require vigorous recovery efforts, for it takes 12 positive customer experiences to make up for one negative interaction. Thus, proactive support not only reduces spend by preventing problems from ever reaching the contact center, but also saves money by minimizing the need for reputation repair. But, before companies can truly change their financial situation, they must realize that customer service requires an investment of time, not just money, from both the brand and the consumer.

via Spotlight | An Ounce of Prevention: How Proactive Support Can Cure Lagging Customer Care.