Customer Service
Small Business Report
- Introduction
- Executive Summary
- The Small Business Success Index
- Capital Access for Small Businesses
- Marketing and Innovation/
- Workforce
- Customer Service
- Computer Technology
- Compliance
- Success in Meeting Business Goals and Owner Satisfaction
- Small Business Financial Success
- The Small Business Economic Climate
- The Small Business Owners and their Businesses
- About the Small Business Success Survey
The major strength of small business is in customer service, with the great majority of businesses reporting success in all six areas that comprise this component of the SBSI. Around nine out of ten small businesses are highly successful at answering customer questions, ensuring customer satisfaction, showing empathy, providing consistent service, resolving problems and winning repeat business. Four of the six customer service dimensions have gotten stronger compared to a year ago, and one of these, ensuring customer satisfaction, is significantly higher.
Clearly, the negative economic environment is not hurting the ability to satisfy existing customers. It will be worth seeing in the future if the situation changes in a growth economy where there are greater volume pressures and employees are harder to find and motivate. Right now, customer service success is only gaining.
Figure 15
*Rated 8 to 10 on a 0 to 10 scale, where 10 = completely successful.
