Reasons For Customer Switching

Reasons For Customer Switching

In the year 2000, a survey was carried out by the now defunct Ventura Customer Service Management, formerly based in Hepworth House, Claypit Lane, Leeds, West Yorkshire, LS2 8AE, England. The survey results were formerly hosted on their website. 

Focusing on industries like banking, electricity, water, travel agencies, gas and telecommunications, the survey attempted to discover the reasons why customers switched from a particular company's products and services, to a competitor brand.

The published report of the survey results, known as "The Ventura Guide to Customer Switching", found that well over 20% of customers leave a company each year. In 55% of cases where a customer chooses to leave a company, it is often a result of more than a single negative incident.

While the data gathered is rather old, it is still relevant to many industries and companies today, especially those focused on customer service. 

Here are the 8 main reasons for customer switching, as selected by participants in the survey:

1. Core Service Failures - 44.3%
(Service mistakes, errors, or service catastrophes)

2. Service Encounter Failures - 34.1%
(Staff uncaring, impolite, unresponsive, or unknowledgeable)

3. Pricing Issues - 29.9%
(Increase in prices, Original price range out of budget of customer, Customer earning or spending less)

4. Inconvenience - 20.7%
(Poor Location, Operating hours not suitable for customer, Having to wait for service)

5. Response To Service Failures - 17.3%
(Negative response, No response, Reluctant response)

6. Attraction To Competitor - 10.2%
(Found a more preferable product or service)

7. Ethical Issues - 7.5%
(Got cheated, Hard selling, Unsafe product or service, Conflict of interest)

8. Involuntary Switch - 6.2%
(Customer moved, Provider ceased business)





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