We have all been there – there is a problem with a technology or a product, or we have a question about something. What happens in the next few minutes will have a big impact on our loyalty toward that particular brand.

Service quality is a leading driver of buying decisions, even more so than price. Consumers usually love bargains, but they prefer to have personalized experiences, to be treated like welcome guests, and to enjoy service that reinforces their decision to become customers in the first place.

Customer care covers a wide range of activity – answering questions about products and services, taking orders and processing payments, resolving issues or complaints, handling the details of individual user accounts, and more. Consumers who have positive experiences will buy more, they will buy more often, and many will tell their friends about the pleasant experience associated with your brand. And negative experiences will have the opposite effect.

In our business, there may not be a more valuable metric than first-contact resolution. It speaks to the level of training agents have, their ability to apply that training to individual customer issues, and how they interact with customers in making sure the issue is resolved.