Oct. 27, 2009 (Business Wire) -- The fourth annual Customer Experience Impact (CEI) Report, a Harris Interactive study sponsored by RightNow® (NASDAQ:RNOW), found that consumer expectations are high and delivering great customer experiences is critical. In fact, 86 percent of consumers have stopped doing business with an organization after a bad customer experience, up 27 percent from four years ago.

Click here to read the entire 2009 CEI Report.

Today’s Consumers are Empowered

The 2009 CEI report also showed that if consumer’s expectations aren’t met, they have multiple avenues to express their dissatisfaction and with social tools at their disposal, the repercussions of this can be enormous:

• 82 percent of consumers indicated they would tell others about a bad experience – up from 67 percent in 2006.
• Many consumers that had a bad experience shared their experience online by posting a negative customer review on the company’s website (23%), Facebook (7%), or a blog (6%).

Opportunities to Engage with Consumers

In addition, the 2009 CEI report identified several opportunities for consumer focused organizations to engage with customers, deliver better experiences and drive revenue:

• Consumers that are online want an interactive website experience that allows them to quickly and easily find the information they need; 62 percent of consumers go to a company website to find information if they are having a problem.
• If consumers can’t find what they need online, they want the option to engage with a live person; 73 percent of consumers prefer to speak directly to a live customer service agent.
• Organizations can even tap into the power of the social web to ensure superior customer experiences. For example, online consumers are looking for service and support on Twitter. 58 percent said if they had complained about a bad experience with a company on a social networking site, such as Twitter, they would like the company to reach out directly and respond to their comment.

“This year’s report makes it clear— consumer expectations are high and they demand a great experience to accompany every interaction.