It seems like December has been recurring revenue month on CE Pro. We've talked about how integration firm Cantara offers full-time service without the full-time headache, third-party service providers that take the guesswork out of RMR, and how to reduce the stress of service calls over the holidays.

This week, OneVision Resources launched its 20/20 service collaborative group, which aims to enhance the consumer experience through faster, more knowledgeable and more emotionally intelligent service. 

Let's pay specific attention to that last one: emotionally intelligent service. 

When you think of customer service, you may imagine technicians who know the technology and are available in case of an issue with a client's system. There's a problem, the technician has the solution, and ta da! It's fixed. But there's more to customer service than answering phones when they ring. It's what you say when you pick up that phone that makes all the difference. 

According to recent research by TimeTrade, 70 percent of buying experiences are based on how the customer feels they are being treated. (See infographic below.)

Which begs the question, do you invest in training your technicians and customer service reps how to walk a client through a service call? When the solution is easy, like a reboot, are they able to describe the process so that the client still feels confident in their system? Do clients feel like they're important to you and your business every time they call?

Even if you're a small firm, chances are you still pick up the phone to an upset customer every now and then. Training your team to turn that around could be worth a lot to your business. 

Other Customer Service Research Findings

• A typical business only hears from 4% of its dissatisfied customers.
• For every customer experience failure, a company loses an average of 65% of the revenue they would have earned from the affected customer during the following year.
• 86% of U.S. adults would pay more for a better customer experience.
• Increasing customer retention rates by 5% increases profits by 25% to 95%. 
• 90% of customers are more likely to buy when helped by a knowledgeable associate.
• 81% of companies with strong capabilities for delivering customer experience excellence are out-performing their competition. 

See the infographic below to learn more about how customer service directly affects your bottom line.