On average an unhappy customer will tell 10-20 other people about his or her bad experience. A study shows that 96 percent of unhappy customers will tell everybody but the person or business responsible. The real shock, however, is that these people held grudges. They remember to do this over a short time span of 18 months. In other words, those rare patrons who loved their shopping experience at a business are not getting that word out as much as the owner might think.
Unhappy customers tip the scales against a business.
Customer feedback is extremely valuable information. A measly 4 percent of consumers will actually take the time to tell a business owner or manager that something is wrong. An owner can use that complaint to his advantage and educate himself on what the customer really expects. There are many reasons. One reason is that they do not believe it will do any good.