According to the Research Institute of America's recent study, here's what service-providing organizations can expect from dissatisfied customers:

They will hear nothing from 96 percent of customers who receive rude or discourteous service.

Each of these dissatisfied customers will tell his or her story to an average of nine other people.

Of those 4 percent who do voice their dissatisfaction, between 54 and 70 percent will use the organization's services again if the complaint is resolved. That percentage goes as high as 95 percent if the complaint is resolved quickly.

68 percent of those who sever the relationship with the service organization do so because of the organization's indifference.