• by Aaron Baar , June 7, 2016

Consumer electronics companies need to start taking some time to understand and support their current customers, or it could result in lost business. 

According to a survey of more than 2,200 consumers by Support.com, nearly 90% of them will return a product within a week if setup and installation is too difficult and nearly two-thirds (64%) will stop purchasing products from a company if they find it too difficult to interact with a technology brand’s support services. (Additionally, 59% said they will not recommend the brand to others.)

“The customer journey is broken, especially how you’re getting support,” Alex Poulos, vice president of marketing at Support.com, tells Marketing Daily. “What we’re finding is the effort the consumer is putting out has a direct effect on whether they’ll buy a product, or buy a product from another company.”

A majority (52%) of consumers are willing to put some amount of effort into engaging with companies to resolve their support issues, but that dedication varies depending on the cost of the product. If a product costs less than $200, 87% of the consumers will return the product within a week if setup and installation is too difficult. 

“Customer effort is a leading indicator of whether a customer is going to stay with you,” Poulos says. “It is no longer viable for companies to count on brand loyalty as an incentive for customers to put more effort into a particular tech product or service. No matter how much customers like your brand, they shouldn’t have to work to love your products.”

The report also finds that consumers are expending nearly three times more effort on set-up and troubleshooting products than they are researching or buying them. While many companies have done a decent job on the research and sales ends of the business (what would traditionally be top-funnel activities), the significant customer effort on support and troubleshooting should also get attention, Poulos says. 

“Support should not be just post-purchase. Technology brands need to make these things available earlier in the consumer journey,” he says. “We have to talk about a true omni-channel experience. If I start online and move to the phone, I want to be able to move from one to another without having to start over.”