What’s happened to having a pleasant, hassle free customer experience in this country? We are hearing more and more war stories from customers. Some go to buy something and are met with whinging, whiny staff or others return to a supplier (retailer or B2B) with a query, return, or problem to be resolved to be met by resistance, apathy, excuses, and, worst of all, customers being informed of their lack of understanding about how the company in question works.
I mean, do we really expect our customers to be fully aware of and understand the following:
- The reasons why we haven’t got our stationary supply yet and can’t process a gift voucher because someone forgot to put the order in and head office sent the wrong forms?
- Why we are frustrated, grumpy, or agitated from an earlier customer interaction?
- Why we haven’t taken leave for ages, are stressed out, and can’t cope with dealing with customers at the moment?
- Why we let our best people take leave during the busiest time?
- Our reasons for being in business in the first place? i.e. it’s only a hobby which somehow makes it less of a business
- The internal processes and procedures we need follow to fulfil and service a sale?
- Why we think head office ‘sucks’?
- Our business strategy and how we are having problems making it work?
- Our staff roster or staffing retention issues?
- Our ordering and stocking procedures?
I think you get the picture. The personal dramas on display by some sales and service people, and even business proprietors, would have you thinking they are doing you a favour or that you are there as a counsellor rather than a customer. It makes being a customer very unpleasant indeed. I’m all for empathy and understanding, however a number of the issues raised here are just not relevant to the customer and never should be. We do not need to know about these as part of our customer experience.
While other areas such as returns policies should be made explicit in clear, simple language customers can understand before the sale is made, even if it means having it on display for people to read. For instance, if you run out of exchange vouchers and can’t process them immediately you need to have an alternate strategy in place to deal with that. Or if you can’t answer the query straight away and promise to follow up with a phone call then do it. Leaving a customer hanging not knowing whether it is good news or bad and then having them to do all the leg work to follow up because of you forgot to call is not good enough.
Then there is the customer experience of being met with a surly attitude or a roll of the eyes in response to a query. If it falls outside a standard procedure it just all seems too hard to deal with.
I am left asking, what has happened to customer service standards in this country? And I am sure that this is a common question many people are asking. With so many buying choices, managing expectations and modelling proactive, professional customer service and sales activities in a polite, constructive, and helpful way can make a huge difference to whether a customer returns or not. We may have the best product or service but if we treat our customers in an offhand manner or take them for granted they are not likely to come back anytime soon, if at all.
A Few Facts about Customers
- Only 4% of customers ever complain directly to the supplier; some simply suffer in silence, while most simply go elsewhere.
- People who stop buying from or dealing with a particular business do so because:
- 1% die
- 3% move away
- 5% seek alternatives or develop other business interests
- 9% begin doing business with the competition
- 14% are dissatisfied with the product or service
- 68% are upset with the treatment they have received.
- It is 6 times more expensive to acquire a new customer than it is to retain an old one.
- Happy customers, or customers who have their complaints satisfactorily resolved, will tell 3 to 5 people. One study revealed that 1 unhappy customer told 11 other people, who in turn told 5 other people.
- Between 54-70% of customers who complain will nevertheless continue to be customers if their complaint is resolved to their satisfaction.
Customers have more options than ever before and feel less loyalty as a result. I wonder why? They want products and services faster, cheaper, and better from whoever will provide them. That means that as a customer service provider, the competitive advantage for our companies rests with all of us.
Why is this important to everyone?
It’s important because customer service does more than simply provide a means to drive sales. When companies have a commitment to customer service it raises the bar of competition. The only way companies can effectively accomplish this is through their employees. As the competitive bar goes up, the quality of employees must go up equally.
Having a better team is good for the individual employee, good for the company and very good for the customer. When a company is committed to customer service, its corporate culture will change to absorb this new dimension, first becoming an integral part, and then becoming the driving force causing amazing results take place.
Need more convincing? It is also well documented that organisations which provide superior customer and sales service can charge more, create greater profits, and achieve greater market share because customers will generally perceive more value and be willing to pay a premium for superior service.
Remember everybody lives by selling something.
Author: Sue Barrett, www.barrett.com.au
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