By Caitlin Coakley

Typically, during a recession a company can go one of two ways to try to keep its revenue the same as during an economic boom: It could put extra focus on making customers happy and try to avoid contract clauses or policies that may upset them, or it could become less scrupulous in an attempt to get as much money it can out of customers.

According to a Charlotte BBB midyear report published July 9, there has been a 76 percent increase in consumer inquiries over the same period last year. From 2005 to 2009, customer inquiries increased 291 percent, from 260,169 to more than 1 million. Inquiries rose 72 percent from 2006 to 2007 — the biggest increase from one full year to the next since 2005 — and 71 percent from 2007 to 2008.

Marketing and consumer-behavior experts say there is no time that a business’ reputation is more important than a recession.

“In a down economy, consumers really want to be treated well regardless of what they do. They have to have relationships with companies that provide good value,” said Brian Shannon, president of Charlotte-based sales and marketing company EJB Group.

Meanwhile, BBB data suggests that businesses are taking extra steps to ensure that the customer, not just the BBB, is satisfied with solutions to the complaints. The BBB classifies complaints that have been addressed as “resolved” or “administratively closed,” the former meaning that the customer is happy with the agreement or resolution, the latter meaning that the BBB has deemed the business’ response as adequate but the customer was not necessarily satisfied.

While the number of overall resolved complaints has increased every year since 2005, the percentage of resolved complaints as opposed to administratively closed has also increased.

‘Behavior has changed permanently’

In addition to contractors, other industries are taking notice of the new customer awareness, said Shannon, who gives talks around the country about customer service, among other topics.

“With the advent of the Internet and the amount of information out there, consumers are being much more selective,” he said.

For a business, that means it should consider taking new steps to make customers happy, whether by showing more flexibility when it comes to hours or being more sympathetic to customer complaints, he said. Some of the questions Shannon said customers will be asking themselves about businesses:  Did they listen to my problems? How quickly did they solve them? What was their attitude when they did it?

Although the number of complaints filed with the BBB in the first half of 2010 has only increased 3 percent over the same period in 2009, Shannon said that consumers’ patience for poor customer service decreases with the amount of disposable income they have.

“In a good economy, when there’s more money to spend, they’re a little more loose about customer service,” he said. “They’re more willing to let some things slide.”

Though the recession may have been a driving factor in why customers have started taking a closer look at the people taking their money, Shannon said that he expects some habits to stick even once the economy becomes stronger.

“I think this recession has really changed the way that consumers have approached a lot of things,” he said. “I think behavior has changed permanently.”

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