{"id":56955,"date":"2023-04-18T08:02:49","date_gmt":"2023-04-18T12:02:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/?p=56955"},"modified":"2023-11-23T09:03:27","modified_gmt":"2023-11-23T14:03:27","slug":"analyzing-the-2023-customer-rage-survey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/analyzing-the-2023-customer-rage-survey\/","title":{"rendered":"Analyzing the 2023 Customer Rage Survey"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Rage is not an emotion you want customers to feel in connection with your business. Yet the recently released 2023 National Customer Rage Survey suggests people are increasingly aggressive about product and service problems. It can often be seen as a mismatch of expectations that leads to rising customer dissatisfaction rates. To be able to address the increasingly prevalent customer service rage, you need to first understand its causes.<\/p>\n<div class=\"div-minispacer\"><\/div>\n<p>Based on this, businesses need to adapt their customer experience strategy to deliver a superior experience with every interaction that addresses customer pain points and improves the overall brand impression.<\/p>\n<div class=\"div-spacer\"><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/icons8-team-r-enAOPw8Rs-unsplash-scaled.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-56962 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/icons8-team-r-enAOPw8Rs-unsplash-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"A raged customer\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/icons8-team-r-enAOPw8Rs-unsplash-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/icons8-team-r-enAOPw8Rs-unsplash-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/icons8-team-r-enAOPw8Rs-unsplash-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/icons8-team-r-enAOPw8Rs-unsplash-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/icons8-team-r-enAOPw8Rs-unsplash-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/icons8-team-r-enAOPw8Rs-unsplash-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/icons8-team-r-enAOPw8Rs-unsplash-50x33.jpg 50w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"div-spacer\"><\/div>\n<p>In its tenth edition, the <a href=\"https:\/\/customercaremc.com\/2023-national-customer-rage-survey\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">2023 National Customer Rage Survey<\/a> aims to explore \u201chow customers get help with the everyday product and service problems they encounter.\u201d The survey by Customer Care Measurement &amp; Consulting (CCMC) and The Center for Services Leadership (CSL) in the W. P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University observes that \u201ccustomer rage is mutating like a virus.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"div-minispacer\"><\/div>\n<p>Focusing on \u201ccommercial transactions gone wrong,\u201d the 2023 web-based study added investigation of \u201ccustomer uncivility\u201d (which is defined as \u201crude, discourteous and disrespectful customer behavior\u201d) in addition to customer rage, noting that both these behaviors can be scary and \u201cborder on dangerous.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"div-spacer\"><\/div>\n<h2>2023 National Customer Rage Survey Highlights<\/h2>\n<p>What did the customer rage survey of 1,000 Americans discover? Here are some of the highlights:<\/p>\n<div class=\"div-minispacer\"><\/div>\n<ul>\n<li>74% of customers reported experiencing a product or service problem in the past year, more than doubling since 1976.<\/li>\n<li>56% of customers felt that the problem wasted their time (an average of one to two days of lost time), 43% cited a loss of money (an average loss of $1,261), and 31% suffered emotional distress.<\/li>\n<li>79% of customers take the time and make an effort to complain about problems<\/li>\n<li>43% yelled or raised their voice to express displeasure about their most serious problem \u2013 increasing from 35% in 2015.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>For those on the other end of the call with the angry customer, it may be a relief to learn that digital channels have become the primary channel for complaints.<\/p>\n<div class=\"div-minispacer\"><\/div>\n<p>And, in case you\u2019re thinking this is an issue only for enterprise-sized organizations, small business problems are up by 50% (vs. 2003 &#8211; 2020) and problems with government agencies have tripled from 2020 alone, per the study.<\/p>\n<div class=\"div-minispacer\"><\/div>\n<p>Whereas in 2015, the average time wasted on the most serious problem was 1 to 2 hours. In 2023, complainants reported 1 to 2 days wasted. That helps explain the 31% who said the problems also elevate their <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/workplace-stress\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">emotional stress<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div class=\"div-minispacer\"><\/div>\n<p>Worse still may be the finding that customers who do not complain are only abstaining because they don\u2019t believe anything could or would be done to solve their problem. Having this come in as the top reason for non-complaints (25%) doesn\u2019t bode well for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/the-5-biggest-cx-disruptors-in-the-digital-era-and-their-impact-on-customer-loyalty\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">customer loyalty<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div class=\"div-spacer\"><\/div>\n<h2>The cost of poor customer experience<\/h2>\n<p>The survey estimates businesses risk $887 billion in future revenue due to mediocre complaint handling. That\u2019s up from $494 billion in 2020. In another finding that can impact business operations, some 32% of respondents admitted to pressuring\/badgering the representative they dealt with. That\u2019s likely not helping your customer service agent retention rates.<\/p>\n<div class=\"div-minispacer\"><\/div>\n<p>Additionally, customer satisfaction with the action taken in response to their complaint has a real impact on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/reasons-why-nps-enps-important\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Net Promotor Scores (NPS)<\/a>. The survey found the 31% who felt only \u201cappeased\u201d and the 30% who felt \u201cdissatisfied\u201d after their customer service interaction led to 68.1 and 88.9 declines in NPS respectively.<\/p>\n<div class=\"div-minispacer\"><\/div>\n<p>Customers might seek revenge in an effort to get even after being exhausted or discouraged by their experience with the business. In the survey, 9% had sought revenge (tripling from 2020). That\u2019s even though the majority (55%) felt \u201csad that it came to this.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"div-minispacer\"><\/div>\n<p>Today there\u2019s an increased threat of social media shaming. Complainants posting on social media about their problems has more than doubled from 2020 to 32%. This is causing companies and organizations to grow more vigilant in monitoring and responding to social media. Yet complainants described the responses as unexceptional. Some 47% were only \u201csomewhat satisfied\u201d and 29% were \u201cdissatisfied.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"div-spacer\"><\/div>\n<h2>How to counter customer rage<\/h2>\n<p>Common wisdom suggests that the simplest answer is to give the customer their money back or offer them a product replacement. Those were the top two solutions customers listed (money back at 36%, and product repair\/service fixed at 27%). Yet, in this survey, 69% wanted more than that. Their suggestions included more \u201crelational remedies,\u201d such as:<\/p>\n<div class=\"div-minispacer\"><\/div>\n<ul>\n<li>Explanation of why the problem occurred, 25%<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/how-and-when-to-apologize-to-customers\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Apology<\/a>, 24%<\/li>\n<li>Assurance that the problem would not be repeated, 23%<\/li>\n<li>To be treated with dignity, 19%<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>There are three things people are least likely to get when they complain, according to survey respondents:<\/p>\n<div class=\"div-minispacer\"><\/div>\n<ul>\n<li>An answer in everyday language\/more than scripted response to their problem<\/li>\n<li>To be treated with dignity<\/li>\n<li>The ability to express their anger\/tell their side of the story<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>With this in mind, you may want to revisit your solutions to customer problems. You might empower your people to go off script. Or pull back on expectations for call handling times to give your team the opportunity to listen and help customers feel heard and understood. And offering <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/how-hr-leaders-use-eq-to-improve-cx\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">emotional intelligence<\/a> skill development can help, too.<\/p>\n<div class=\"div-spacer\"><\/div>\n<h2>Other steps to take<\/h2>\n<p>Another action item could be to highlight your \u201cHow to Reach Us\u201d contact information online and in product materials. Survey respondents identified high levels of frustration with figuring out how or where to contact the company to complain.<\/p>\n<div class=\"div-minispacer\"><\/div>\n<p>Then, think about paring down your phone trees or making it easier to circumvent chat bots when a customer has a concern. Having to listen to long messages before reaching a human representative was another top source of customer frustration.<\/p>\n<div class=\"div-minispacer\"><\/div>\n<p>On social channels, you can counter customer unhappiness with a timely response personalized to the issues posted. Worried about monitoring all your channels? Start at least with Facebook, which is the most common platform used to post product <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/improve-rental-guest-satisfaction\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">reviews<\/a> and make complaints (at 57%). Amazon and Instagram tie for second at 31% each.<\/p>\n<div class=\"div-minispacer\"><\/div>\n<p>Successful customer experience management can help you avoid these kinds of frustrations. Our comprehensive customer experience platform, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/customer-experience-platform\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">SogoCX<\/a>, gives you insight into <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/why-sentiment-is-key-to-customer-experience-analysis\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">customer sentiment<\/a> throughout their journey with your company to help you capture the voice of the customer and take action.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Rage is not an emotion you want customers to feel in connection with your business. Yet the recently released 2023 National Customer Rage Survey suggests people are increasingly aggressive about product and service problems. It can often be seen as a mismatch of expectations that leads to rising customer dissatisfaction rates. To be able to address the increasingly prevalent customer service rage, you need to first understand its causes. Based on this, businesses need to adapt their customer experience strategy to deliver a superior experience with every interaction that addresses customer pain points and improves the overall brand impression. In its tenth edition, the 2023 National Customer Rage Survey aims to explore \u201chow customers get help with the everyday product and service problems they encounter.\u201d The survey by Customer Care Measurement &amp; Consulting (CCMC) and The Center for Services Leadership (CSL) in the W. P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University observes that \u201ccustomer rage is mutating like a virus.\u201d Focusing on \u201ccommercial transactions gone wrong,\u201d the 2023 web-based study added investigation of \u201ccustomer uncivility\u201d (which is defined as \u201crude, discourteous and disrespectful customer behavior\u201d) in addition to customer rage, noting that both these behaviors can be scary and \u201cborder on dangerous.\u201d 2023 National Customer Rage Survey Highlights What did the customer rage survey of 1,000 Americans discover? Here are some of the highlights: 74% of customers reported experiencing a product or service problem in the past year, more than doubling since 1976. 56% of customers felt that [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":41,"featured_media":49239,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,204],"tags":[373,969,597,176,105,217],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v19.7.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Analyzing the 2023 Customer Rage Survey - Sogolytics Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The 2023 National Customer Rage Survey gives CX teams insights into the anger people are feeling in the marketplace. Find out highlights.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/analyzing-the-2023-customer-rage-survey\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Analyzing the 2023 Customer Rage Survey - Sogolytics Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The 2023 National Customer Rage Survey gives CX teams insights into the anger people are feeling in the marketplace. Find out highlights.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/analyzing-the-2023-customer-rage-survey\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sogolytics Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-04-18T12:02:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-11-23T14:03:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/cust-7.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"487\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"714\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jenn Goddu\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/analyzing-the-2023-customer-rage-survey\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/analyzing-the-2023-customer-rage-survey\/\",\"name\":\"Analyzing the 2023 Customer Rage Survey - Sogolytics Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2023-04-18T12:02:49+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-11-23T14:03:27+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/e279d58fbb23148c5be4fdcb53b4a454\"},\"description\":\"The 2023 National Customer Rage Survey gives CX teams insights into the anger people are feeling in the marketplace. Find out highlights.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/analyzing-the-2023-customer-rage-survey\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/analyzing-the-2023-customer-rage-survey\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/analyzing-the-2023-customer-rage-survey\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Analyzing the 2023 Customer Rage Survey\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Sogolytics Blog\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/e279d58fbb23148c5be4fdcb53b4a454\",\"name\":\"Jenn Goddu\",\"description\":\"Jenn likes asking questions and getting answers, which makes Sogolytics a good match. She\u2019s a Charlotte, NC-based, Canadian ex-pat, with a M.A. in Journalism and a M.F.A. in Creative Writing. She\u2019ll leave the quantitative data analysis to the experts!\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/author\/jgoddu\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Analyzing the 2023 Customer Rage Survey - Sogolytics Blog","description":"The 2023 National Customer Rage Survey gives CX teams insights into the anger people are feeling in the marketplace. Find out highlights.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/analyzing-the-2023-customer-rage-survey\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Analyzing the 2023 Customer Rage Survey - Sogolytics Blog","og_description":"The 2023 National Customer Rage Survey gives CX teams insights into the anger people are feeling in the marketplace. Find out highlights.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/analyzing-the-2023-customer-rage-survey\/","og_site_name":"Sogolytics Blog","article_published_time":"2023-04-18T12:02:49+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-11-23T14:03:27+00:00","og_image":[{"width":487,"height":714,"url":"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/cust-7.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Jenn Goddu","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/analyzing-the-2023-customer-rage-survey\/","url":"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/analyzing-the-2023-customer-rage-survey\/","name":"Analyzing the 2023 Customer Rage Survey - Sogolytics Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2023-04-18T12:02:49+00:00","dateModified":"2023-11-23T14:03:27+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/e279d58fbb23148c5be4fdcb53b4a454"},"description":"The 2023 National Customer Rage Survey gives CX teams insights into the anger people are feeling in the marketplace. Find out highlights.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/analyzing-the-2023-customer-rage-survey\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/analyzing-the-2023-customer-rage-survey\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/analyzing-the-2023-customer-rage-survey\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Analyzing the 2023 Customer Rage Survey"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/","name":"Sogolytics Blog","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/e279d58fbb23148c5be4fdcb53b4a454","name":"Jenn Goddu","description":"Jenn likes asking questions and getting answers, which makes Sogolytics a good match. She\u2019s a Charlotte, NC-based, Canadian ex-pat, with a M.A. in Journalism and a M.F.A. in Creative Writing. She\u2019ll leave the quantitative data analysis to the experts!","url":"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/author\/jgoddu\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56955"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/41"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56955"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56955\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":59527,"href":"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56955\/revisions\/59527"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49239"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56955"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56955"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sogolytics.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56955"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}