Strengthening customer relationships by sticking to the basics
Editor’s note: Kyle Ferguson is president and chief commercial officer at Press Ganey Forsta.
In an era where one video can turn a spectacular service failure into a viral horror story, many companies live in fear of their brand being haunted by an internet sensation. The truth is, once the firestorms die down, companies can often bounce back and rebuild lost trust with consumers, especially as news feeds rotate from one ephemeral viral moment to another. In fact, new research shows that the real business killer is more mundane than leaders imagine.
According to Press Ganey Forsta’s 2025 State of CX Report, ordinary service failures are 2.5 times more likely to destroy customer relationships than the sensational disasters that make headlines. While brands are devoting significant resources to prevent or respond to the latest internet-magnified catastrophe, 63% of customers are quietly walking away after tedious service failures like being transferred three times or waiting on hold for 20 minutes.
At a time when consumer expectations are at an all-time high, companies can’t afford to underestimate the impact of customer service on their bottom line. Organizations that withstand economic fluctuations are those that understand that poor service is a silent margin killer.
The mundane matters more than the memorable
The results of the same study showed a pattern impossible to ignore: Minor annoyances are the straw that breaks customer loyalty. Nearly 53% of U.S. consumers cite long wait times and disconnected systems as their breaking point with a favorite brand, and 71% are less likely to return to a brand after just one poor experience, regardless of how innovative the product might be.
Leaders who are scratching their heads about the results of declining quarterly reports after a flashy product rollout may be ignoring the invisible erosion of trust that happens when customers experience elementary service gaps. A cutting-edge offering can’t compensate for unresponsive order status inquiries or repeating the same issue to four different representatives.
Speed is the name of the game
Customers crave quick-turn responses from brands, with 59% expecting a response within 24 hours and 67% expecting a follow-up, but few brands meet this standard. For every unanswered inquiry and unaddressed customer service problem, organizations are losing an opportunity to differentiate from competitors with basic operational infrastructure. The gap between expectation and reality has created a massive vulnerability. In 2025, silence is permission for customers to shop elsewhere.
When things do go wrong, customers aren’t asking for elaborate apologies or compensation packages. They just want a direct response and an actionable solution for their issue. Customer retention doesn’t require a crisis playbook when textbook communication and responsiveness suffice.
Want to retain customers? Go back to the basics.
Fancy features won’t make up for broken fundamentals. Short wait times, accurate order tracking and consistent omnichannel support aren’t exciting, but they’re simple practices that can dramatically improve customer retention.
One global retailer we work with saw a 24% lift in customer satisfaction simply by consolidating help center channels and reducing repeat contacts through better backend integration. No revolutionary technology. No massive transformation initiative. Just a better approach to the basics of customer service.
The companies best prepared to survive economic headwinds are the ones obsessing over the snafus that quietly kill customer relationships every single day. The data says it best; it’s not the dramatic failures that destroy business. It’s the thousand small ones that customers simply stop tolerating.