Apologies are not enough

July 29th, 2010

Some customer service representatives seem to believe that their job is to apologize. Your product is defective? I am sorry. Your shipment never arrived? I am sorry. You had to wait two days to talk to someone? I am sorry.

Although saying you’re sorry when something has gone wrong is important–it proves empathy to your customers–it is not enough. When people contact customer service with any type of issue they are not looking for an apology–they are looking for a resolution to the issue.

To some customers, apologies are an acceptance of fault. If you are apologizing, you must have done something wrong. But to complete the cycle, you have to undo the wrong or make it right. If you don’t, you are leaving your customer hanging. Say your customer ordered a shipment of widgets. Your shipping department told the customer the shipment would arrive on July 15th, give or take five days. It is now July 25th. The customer contacts the customer service department and explains the situation. The customer service representative says that yes, the shipment was due to arrive by July 15, and is sorry you haven’t gotten it yet.

What more could the customer service representative done? For one, the CSR could attempt to trace the shipment. If the shipment can’t be traced, the customer service representative could ask you, the customer, what you would like to see. Perhaps you want the widgets shipped again. Or perhaps you just want a credit to your account. You want some sort of action to compensate for the fact that you have not received your shipment. Right?

So remember, apologize, but then work to make it right. The apology alone won’t do.

Yes, people do care about customer service

July 27th, 2010

It seems that many companies have not yet caught on to the reality that people care about customer service. People will shun a company if it provides bad customer service, and sometimes, they will publicly (and with the power of social media) complain about it.

Last week, the news came that Facebook is rated as one of the companies  with the worst customer service. The conundrum is that it is also one of the fastest growing companies with a very large customer base (500 million people worldwide). Although people keep using the social sharing website, they are not happy about it. Will this have repercussions?

The perceived decline (and complaining about) customer service is not relegated to the United States. Writing in the Sydney Morning Herald, an Australian blogger writes about her difficulties in getting any type of help while shopping for clothes.

And yet, as we have discussed previously on this blog, customer service is a differentiator for businesses and can help the bottom line.  Julia Clarke, writing in the Australian blog Dynamic Business, concurs.  She says:

Australia’s small businesses can use exceptional customer service to attract customers away from big businesses, a new survey has found.

People care about customer service, they rate companies based on customer service and they reward the companies that make customer service a priority.  It is that simple.


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Fire Department Customer Service Lessons

July 22nd, 2010

Perhaps the best customer service in the world comes from the Fire Department (and all other emergency responders). If there is a fire, we know that when we call 911 to report the situation, in a matter of minutes, fire trucks and fire fighters will be on the scene.

This efficiency and reliability comes down to the number one lesson from the Fire Department:

  • When the phone rings, you answer it immediately.

In emergency situations, you don’t have the luxury of waiting to answer the phone when it is convenient. You do it because people’s lives may be in danger and you must respond as quickly as possible. In business, your customer should come first, and answering the phone goes a long way in assuring him or her that you care.

  • Treat every call with respect

Not every call may be life-or-death urgent, but you just don’t know, and must treat each and every call the same. Firefighters will answer the call and then try to determine how to prioritize it. In business, some calls may be about easily resolved issues and some may have to do with larger organizational problems. You don’t know, and until you have determined what the call means, you need to treat each and every caller with respect.

  • Have a response ready

When you call the Fire Department, the firefighters will determine if you have a fire, and if so, how many fire trucks may be needed, or if you have a medical emergency, and if so, what type of ambulance to send. They have systems in place to send the right equipment to respond to whatever the situation is. The business lesson here is that there must be an appropriate response to every situation.

A couple more things: In order for emergency response to work it must be reliable and available, and that is exactly what we need from customer service too.

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Should customer service be regulated?

July 20th, 2010

Customer service is generally something businesses and organizations provide their customers and supporters as a way to solve problems, maintain a high standard and be responsive. Some organizations use their degree of customer service as a differentiation with other similar organizations.

In a free market, organizations are free to provide as much or as little customer service as they like. But is a customer problem something the free market can ignore at will? Technically, the answer is yes. After all, if a company ignores or refuses to deal with a problem, the customers can take their business elsewhere, and the company will then be “punished” by the free market. But this is free market theory, and in practice, we believe that when we buy a service or a product, and there is a problem, there is a LEGAL obligation for the company/organization to rectify the situation.

In fact, this legal obligation may be spelled out in a sales contract. But it is not always. This is where regulators would like to step in.  We are seeing this more and more with the airline industry. With the rise in add-on fees and unclear fares, the government wants to make things easier for passengers to understand.

According to this blog post on Forbes.com, the government should NOT be involved in regulating airline customer service. The writer, Allen Howell, believes the free market will take care of this.   As he writes:

The consumer can choose which airline they fly with, or they can choose to not fly the airlines at all.

Companies should voluntarily step up customer service, understanding that customer service always helps the bottom line. Should the government regulate customer service? Perhaps there are situations where regulation is necessary such as when a company has a monopoly on the market segment, or there is a known  life-and-death situation.  But, there are no absolutes in business!

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Getting customer service online and feedback

July 15th, 2010

Using customer service to improve sales makes sense. Sometimes, retailers and other providers need to think about customer NEEDS. Here are two areas to consider.

Online customer service

Have you ever been on a website and wanted to purchase something, but had questions? A website, unlike a live person, is unable to answer specific questions unless someone else has already asked that question. What often happens is that if you have some doubts about the product in question, you simply won’t buy it. E-commerce operators are slowly coming around to the idea of providing live customer service online, as CNBC reports (article: Higher E-Commerce Sales May Only Be A Click Away).

The CNBC article says the following:

The thought is that by adopting live help—a category that includes tools to enable customers to chat online or to call a salesperson directly—shoppers will buy more because any concerns they have about buying a product online will be addressed.

Currently, about 27.8 percent of retailers provide services where customers can click a link on the Web site to start a chat session, a Forrester [FORR 32.36 --- UNCH (0) ] survey said. But that number is expected to grow. By the end of this year, 26.5 percent more retailers will add “click-to-chat” capabilities on their Web sites, the research firm said.

It’s interesting that only about a quarter of online retailers offer this service. It makes sense to offer customer service online to spur sales. Perhaps it depends on what you are selling online. Some items are certainly easier to understand than others. Some websites rely on reviews and may provide answers to uneasy customers. However, if someone is undecided and can’t get information to sway the decision, he or she will just not buy. The potential customer may end up going to a brick-and-mortar store to research (and buy) the product.

Obtaining feedback

If you think everything is fine, and you don’t ask whether it is or not, YOU CAN’T IMPROVE OR ADDRESS ANY ISSUES. Having your head in the sand when it comes to customer service is not a growth strategy, it could very well be a recipe for disaster.

Having a mechanism for obtaining feedback (online survey, paper survey, phone call) guarantees that you will be able to measure how you are doing. Don’t assume everything is fine because you haven’t heard a complaint. Some issues are not complaint-worthy for customers, but could impact their decision to do business with you again in the future.  The only way to know if these issues exist is to ask. Sometimes, customers want to provide anonymous feedback. That’s fine, because the feedback is important.

The lesson here is to install some kind of feedback mechanism, and make it robust.

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Employees, Twitter and Customer Service

July 13th, 2010

To deliver the best customer service, you should have motivated, happy employees. When you have the best customer service, you have more customers, and those customers are satisfied. With satisfied customers, you have less stress on your employees, and therefore they are happier.  Do you see the circle?

Happy employees=good customer service=satisfied customers=happy employees

A great example of the customer service-employee circle is JetBlue. The airline is known for a providing a good experience. As its CEO, Dave Barger tells the San Francisco Chronicle:

We’ve earned a sixth consecutive J.D. Power and Associates award for customer service, and we’re a good place of employment. This combination works extremely well for JetBlue.

Now, should your happy employees use Twitter to interact with customers? That is what Valeria Maltoni asks in this post over on her blog Conversation Agent. You should determine whether your company is ready to use social media to deal with customer issues. For instance, one issue with Twitter is response speed–it should be very quick. Can your company handle that?

There’s no doubt that Twitter has worked wonders for customers–they can publicly shame a company into action. And companies should be aware (and responsive)  that customers are talking about their problems in a public forum.

What are you doing to keep your customers and your customer service employees happy?

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It’s monetary!

July 7th, 2010

Customer service has become a differentiating factor, making it easier for people to choose between businesses. Better customer service generally gets more customers.

If just to increase your bottom line, your organization should be paying attention to customer service. As a blog post  entitled “Companies That Ignore Customer Service are in Trouble” on Benzinga indicates,customer service can increase stock price:

Have you noticed the companies with a reputation for great customer service are also the companies that have seen better performance out of their stocks during these difficult fiscal times? Think of Southwest Airlines (LUV:NYSE) and Apple (AAPL:NASDAQ) – companies known for going above and beyond for their customers all the while their stocks have appreciated 65% and 86%, respectively, over the past year.

The post makes the point that excellent customer service is a low-cost way to increase your profit. Making customer service a priority can really impact a company’s bottom line in the present, but also for future business. Customers are more likely to do repeat business with a company that has treated them well in the past.

In fact, according to findings in the American Express Global Customer Service Barometer survey, 91% of customers surveyed said that customer service is  a factor they consider when deciding to do business with a company, and will spend, on average 9% more when they receive excellent service. Read more about how the survey was completed and other interesting information gleaned from this study here.

These eye-popping statistics are really proof of how important customer service is to a company’s bottom line. To ignore customer service is to throw potential business away.

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You only have one chance to make a good first impression

July 6th, 2010

First impressions are often lasting impressions, and like the saying goes, you only have one chance to make a good first impression. This is especially important for customer service. A customer can get turned off in just a few seconds if you make a bad first impression. If you make a good first impression, you have a chance to keep that customer.

What constitutes a first impression? Actually, it is many things.  To determine where customers get their first impression of your business, figure out how customers contact you: on the web? via telephone? in person?

Websites: Lots of potential customers look up businesses on the web. To make a good first impression, you must have a nice, updated website that provides the information your customers need. Is it easy to navigate? Do you provide contact information, a feedback form?

Telephone: Do you have a receptionist? Is he or she pleasant and helpful? If you don’t have a live person to answer the phone, does your phone system provide easy to follow instructions and relevant information?

In person: Who is the first person your potential customers see? Is it a receptionist or clerk? Is this person dressed in a manner that reflects your business ethos? Is this person pleasant and helpful? If you are a retail operation, is your place of business inviting? Easy to get to?

How can you tell what kind of impression you are making? You could hire a consultant or  “secret shopper” to give you input. We often don’t see what is in front of us. Ask your customers.  Make sure you know what is being said about you.

The bottom line is that it is essential to make sure you are making the best first impression you can.

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Radio silence

July 1st, 2010

Silence is golden, except in customer service.  And no news does not equal good news in customer service.  Silence means nothing is going on or that no one knows what is going on, which can turn in to frustration and anger for the customer.

It is better to give more information than no information. It is better to let customers know that you are doing something or keep them informed than to let them wonder what is going on. Silence is nerve-wracking for customers precisely because they don’t know what is going on.   Hold music is often maligned, but if a customer can hear something on the line, he or she knows that he/she is still connected.

Even if there is no information to share, it is best to say something. Take for instance a transit delay. A train is supposed to leave at a certain time, and it does not leave the station as scheduled. There is no announcement. There is nothing. Customers don’t know what is going on: how long is the delay or will the train be canceled.  This causes anxiety, but worse it disrespects the customer’s time. If a passenger on the delayed train is told that there will be a 30-minute delay, he or she can choose to get off the train and take alternative transport.

Information allows people choice and control. Lack of information does the opposite–it does not give customers the opportunity to make informed decisions.

As part of customer service training, representatives should understand that information is key.  Do not allow radio silence. Keep the information flowing.

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Nip it in the bud

June 29th, 2010

Problems happen. Sometimes the company is at fault and sometimes the customer is at fault. Sometimes no one is at fault but there is still an issue to be resolved.

When a customer calls customers service with a problem, it does not matter who is at fault. The customer is already upset, and trying to lay blame for the problem does not help. It also does not help to further aggravate the situation.  If you can fix the problem or at least try to fix the problem, while being professional and efficient, then you will have gone a long way in repairing any damage the initial problem may have caused to your image with the customer.

Nip the problem in the bud. Do not exacerbate the problem by making it difficult to the customer to get help. How?

  • Make it easy for the customer to reach a person who can help
  • Make the exchange pleasant
  • Be efficient
  • Don’t make the customer wait for inordinate amounts of time
  • Provide the information the customer requests

Seems obvious yet many companies are cutting back on human help so that it is hard to find someone who can help without having to jump through hoops or wait long periods of time.

If you don’t help someone when they need the help, the problem will grow from something fixable to an image problem. You will seem unhelpful and uncaring. In the long run, that will hurt your business. So remember to nip it in the bud!

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