SmallBusinessNewz

Customer Experience Management (CEM) software company Tealeaf recently conducted a survey regarding online customer experiences. The biggest stat to come from this survey is: 41% of online adults click away when they encounter a problem. Many of them go to a competitor. Tealeaf estimates that this represents a $57 billion potential impact to revenue on shopping sites.

Is that incentive enough for you to make sure your web site is working to maximum performance? The survey also found that 87% of users conducting transactions on the Web have experienced problems. Of course any problems a customer has with a web site can quickly turn into reputation problems for the site owner or business as a whole. Tealeaf drops some more stats on that:

More than four in five (84%) online adults who experience problems conducting online transactions share their experiences with others, amplifying the impact of any single experience. Among those who share their experiences with others, 82% do so using non-online modes of communication such as in-person (74%) and phone conversations (50%) with friends and family, while 58% use online channels to share complaints or reviews, such as on the company's website (39%), in an email to friends and family (23%), on a ratings and reviews website (16%), on an online message board (8%), or on a blog or social network (7%). These Internet postings and comments are often widely disseminated and long lived.

"The Web has changed business; companies both large and small compete for the same customers. Now, competition is just a click away and customer expectations continue to grow," said Rebecca Ward, CEO of Tealeaf.

"Businesses must take definitive steps to differentiate themselves by understanding and improving their customers' site experiences, and equipping their contact centers to truly meet the needs of online customers," added Ward.

Ward sounds right on to me.