Customer Service Gone Wrong

We have all received poor customer service from time to time, but the real issue is how does the company deal with your complaint. Here is a quick story about poor customer service and how the staff did not attempt to win me over with any customer service solutions.


I had gone to a cafe and ordered a large chocolate milk. This would seem to be a  simple request, but I could tell the employee was having a hard time understanding my request, so I repeated the order. Then the clerk asks me what size I would like, which showed me she was not listening, since I had already repeated large two times. I could tell this was going to be an interesting customer service experience. Sure enough the clerk brings out my order which is completely wrong. Instead of a large chocolate milk, they bring out some kind of hot drink with milk and coffee. So I then mentioned I had ordered a large chocolate milk and the clerk seems surprised. 


My discussion had attracted the attention of the supervisor, who had now come over, and again I mentioned what I had ordered. Finally the supervisor brings me the chocolate milk, but says this is 35 cents more than what the clerk had charged me. I was quite upset, as now we had spent far too much time on such a simple issue, and the supervisor did not apologize for the error, and did not offer to cover the extra 35 cents, as a goodwill gesture.


So I told the supervisor, I no longer wanted the milk, if they were not going to make any attempt at trying to recover from this poor customer service showing. The supervisor seemed surprised, and then said they will not charge the extra 35 cents. This was a very poor example of customer service recovery, as the staff were not apologetic at all, and still wanted me to pay the extra 35 cents. You would think 35 cents would be a cheap way to build customer goodwill. So as you can imagine I am left with a very poor experience from this cafe, and I have no confidence the supervisor really cares about keeping customers happy.


This is an example of poor customer service, that will not produce word of mouth customers. However, a better way to correct the issue would of been if the supervisor came over and apologized and waived the extra 35 cent charge, that would of been a much better way to handle this poor service. This would of been the minimum level of service recovery, but if they wanted to deliver exceptional service, perhaps they could of provided some free product or other promo, to show some goodwill that they really value my business. Businesses always need to strive for exceptional customer service delivery and you will gain many loyal customers who will reward your business with increased revenue.

Powerful Words - I Am Sorry!

Its amazing how powerful the phrase , " I am sorry"  can be in dealing with customer conflicts. Customers will always have various concerns or complaints with a company, but often a simple , "I am sorry", will help to calm the customer. Now to be sure, you have to be careful how you phrase the apology.so that it sounds sincere and is directed at the inconvenience the customer suffered. In addition, you need to solve the issue the customer has and explain the resolution process, but often the customer simply wants an apology.


You are apologizing for the inconvenience and stress caused to the customer by the poor service or bad product. Customers want to know that you care about them and that you fully understand their concerns. The customer service rep could offer all kinds of solutions to the problem, but the customer could still be very angry. This is because they feel like the staff are simply trying to get rid of them as fast as they can, by offering fast solutions, but without an apology. 


Customers are not like sheep that can be just quickly herded out of the store, so we can get to the next customer. Customers need to be treated with respect and shown that the company genuinely cares about their concerns about the product or service. This quote really applies well to customer service; "People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care" - John C. Maxwell. Once customers know that you actually care about them, they will typically  be more responsive to the staff who are offering the solutions to their issues. Having staff say sorry to customers when needed will allow your company to keep more of your customers and create very positive word of mouth advertising.

Stand Out From The Competition

Delivering great customer service can be a powerful way for a company to stand out from the competition. Many companies have very average or poor customer service, so delivering exceptional customer service would create very positive views for a company and allow them to be different from the competition. Most companies offer very similar products or services, but their customer service levels vary a lot. It is easy for most companies to compete on  price, but much harder to compete based on customer service levels. However, when you start to compete using customer service as a marketing tool to beat out your competition, you will be creating a strategy that is harder for your competition to match.


It takes awhile to hire the right people and it takes patience and time to train the staff to deliver great customer service. That is why most businesses will not invest the needed resources to develop a a great customer service program. Most people think of marketing tools as things like advertising, telemarketing, direct mail, internet advertising, etc, but see customer service as important but not as a tool for marketing. If a business uses customer service as a tool to keep customers happy, it allows the company to keep more of their customers and get new customers through positive word of mouth.


Just to show how important word of mouth advertising is, here are the results of a worldwide survey by Nielsen: 92% of consumers around the world say they trust  earned media, such as word-of-mouth advertising, above all other forms of advertising-an increase of 18% since 2007 as per the new study from Nielson. The study was done in 2011 and is called the The Nielson Global Trust in Advertising Survey. It polled more than 28,000 online consumers in 56 countries. ( http://nielsen.com/us/en/insights/press-room/2012/nielsen-global-consumers-trust-in-earned-advertising-grows.html )


This survey is powerful evidence for the importance of word of mouth advertising. Since great customer service is such a big factor in creating word of mouth advertising, it would make good business sense to develop exceptional customer service at your business. Once your business starts to see how delivering great customer service is a powerful marketing tool, you will keep more of your customers and potentially save money by reducing more expensive forms of advertising. Deliver exceptional customer service and your business will stand out among the competition, which creates many happy customers and happy business owners.

Great People Helping Attitudes Needed!

What are the right qualities to look for when deciding on new staff to hire? It is not an easy question to answer, but it is an important question, because it affects all businesses. Many businesses will look for potential employees with prior knowledge and experience in the industry. This is important, but what is more important is the people helping attitude of potential employees.

Some questions to be asked are: Does this person have the needed patience to deal with customers? Does the person have a genuine caring attitude to help people? How strong are their problem solving skills when dealing with customer complaints? Do they have the needed listening skills to allow the customer to say what is on their mind? These are just some considerations when trying to hire new staff. The main consideration should always be that this person has a great attitude towards helping customers.

Employees with great people helping attitudes, are extremely valuable to a company. Customers will have a much more positive view of your business when they encounter friendly and helpful staff. This would clearly lead to positive word of mouth advertising, which would increase company revenue and potentially save on marketing costs. It costs so much to get new customers, why not treat your current customers great to help ensure they stay a long term client.