Customer service generally sucks these days. If you haven’t noticed, here’s the data: The top reason why customers leave you is service. Not price. Not product. Not convenience. Lousy service. In fact, most studies show the number in the 70% range.

One would think that in an age of commoditized products and services brought about by the ability to source just about anything online, that companies would put a tremendous emphasis on customer service. The opposite appears to be true.

Now, there’s a lot of opinions out there as to why customer service has gotten so bad (Millennials get a lot of the blame for a lot of stuff these days, so I won’t), but it doesn’t matter why. What matters is that at least ½ of your business is dependent on it. According to research from Aspect and Conversion, 52% of people have stopped doing business with a company due to lousy customer service. The human side of your business. Not your website, or your software, or your product design. People.

Throw in the review sites that influence your prospects, and there’s a lot of people that you don’t even get once because of inept people. Frontline workers that interact with the customers that your marketing brought in the door are killing brands. They are literally taking money out of your pocket.

So, why this information in a marketing blog? For the opportunistic marketer, this data can be a good thing because while you are penalized for poor service, people will reward you for good service.

60% of people would switch brands for a better customer experience. 70% will spend more with you if your service is good. So, I propose that your marketing department demands to take over customer service today. Anybody that touches the customer should be trained by someone with a marketing mind. Marketing can’t fix poor service, but the marketer can. And must.