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The Skyscraping Cost of Bad Customer Service (Infographic)

The way you treat your customers is everything. Here's why.
/ Source: Entrepreneur.com

Canadians are known to be a cheerful bunch. New Zealanders, too, seem to have an unthinkable gift for keeping cool in the face of crisis. (Take, for instance, this 24-year-old doctor who fought off a shark attack, sutured his own wounds and then threw back a beer.)

Unsuprisingly, both countries also provide the best customer service in the world, according to data compiled in an infographic by workforce management software company ClickSoftware.com.

The value of good service cannot be overstated. According to the infographic, U.S. businesses lose $83 billion each year due to defections and abandoned purchases brought on by poor customer experiences.

Related: 4 Quick Tips for Using Social Media for Customer Service

And social media -- as anyone who may have had a bone to pick with an airline or a cable provider in recent years might know -- is transforming the customer service landscape in drastic ways.

While consumers were formerly surprised to receive a response from complaints lodged on Twitter, now they expect one. Nevertheless, approximately 70 percent of socially-aired grievances still remain unanswered.

For some additional staggering wins -- as well as costly lapses -- in the critical customer service arena, check this out:

Click to Enlarge+

Related: How to Deal With the Customer Who Isn't Right