I chuckle when I hear executives boast that 98% of their customers say they are satisfied. While that sounds really good, is it really?

Imagine you sell some high-priced techno-gadget. Now, imagine you sold 100,000 of them last year. If you had 98% satisfied customers, you also had 2% unsatisfied. That’s 2000 people. 2000! 

Are you okay with 2000 people being unhappy? Even more worrying, are you okay with 2000 people telling their story of woe to others? 

Consider this. On average, unhappy people tell 10 to 12 others about their bad time. So, you stand to have 20,000 to 24,000 potential customers dissuaded from buying from you. What could you do with 24,000 new customers …or even half that?

Lesson? Be careful of numbers. 98% sounds great, but 24,000 potential lost customers is definitely not. 

Dissatisfaction. It’s a launchpad for improvement. To dismiss underperformance because 98% is “good enough” is a slippery slope to becoming average …or worse. 

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