We all like to think that our businesses are the most influential in our chosen field. However, the true scope of how true this is, lies not only in your expertise, but also with your clients. If they aren’t satisfied, you can be sure that this fact will reflect itself in your sales figures.

Why is this? We live in a world that is more connected than any other previous generation. The Internet allows us to view information about a particular company in the blink of an eye, meaning that, if something good happens, we can know about it instantaneously. Unfortunately, this also holds true for when bad things happen. If a customer has a bad time dealing with your company, you can be sure that the Internet will find out about it; and in turn, so will the rest of the world.

Customers Shape Your Business
Your company is at the mercy of its clients. With a single bad review, your potential revenue can plummet. However, at the same time, a good review can make others that much more confident in your abilities. According to Vision Critical, it takes somewhere between 10-to-12 positive reviews to make up for one negative review. What’s worse is that 80 percent of people won’t buy products or services from a business with negative reviews. If there’s anything that can cause the death of a company, it’s a lack of customers and a lack of business.

Other statistics concerning unhappy customers include:

• Customers are three times more likely to tell their friends about negative experiences, be it on social media or through word of mouth.
• Businesses with an average of three stars or more on Google Places get 87 percent of all clickthroughs.
• Restaurants in the Seattle area reported 5-to-9 percent increases in revenue gained following positive reviews on Yelp.

That’s a Lot of Lost Cash
Now, here’s the really scary part of this whole situation: if you can’t make your customers happy, they will find someone who can. The lost profits are staggering. Here are some rough estimates concerning how much money an unhappy customer can actually cost your business:

• In the U.S. consumer market alone, there’s around $1,300,000,000,000 on the line. Yes, you read that right: trillion, with a capital “T,” and thirteen figures.
• 51 percent of customers will switch businesses or service providers due to poor customer experience.
• 81 percent of customers who switch businesses claim that the company could have prevented them from leaving.
• Totaled together, that’s approximately $537,030,000,000 lost by unhappy customers every year.

What’s more, customers who are completely satisfied will always contribute more cash (up to 14 times more) toward a goal than those who are even somewhat dissatisfied.

Remember, it costs 6-to-7 times more cash to gain new customers than to retain an existing one. Logically, the best way to do business is to satisfy your current clients before taking on new ones. Therefore, one of the most dynamic ways to increase your bottom line may be to simply keep everyone happy. As you know, this is a task that’s easier said than done, but obviously, it’s worth the extra effort.

What are some ways your business likes to engage customers to increase satisfaction? Let us know in the comments?