How to handle problems

Thursday, April 29th, 2010

Many times, though definitely not all, customer service is about handling problems. Customers may be unhappy with something or someone. Customers may want money back or have issues with their bill. In short, customers will turn to customer service to resolve problems. It stands to reason that it good customer service knows how to handle and RESOLVE problems.

Additionally, when customer service is able to handle problems and perhaps resolve them, customers will be happier, and this helps encourage their loyalty.

Inc. Magazine has a useful article entitled “How to Handle Customer Complaints.” In the article, author Tali Yahalom gives various tips. Among them:

• Listen first (and allow the customer to vent)
• Treat a customers as a person not a number
• Look for a fair solution
• Respond in writing when appropriate

This article is definitely worth reading, as are the resources Yahalomi provides.

Everyone can learn to better handle problems. The better your customer service is at handling problems, the less negativity will exist, even from unhappy customers.  As we have written before on the blog,  customers have the tools to share negativity far and wide through social media. One unhappy customer can turn into many people with a negative view of your company. Resolving a problem in a fair and quick way will help prevent customers’ unhappiness to spread.

How do you handle problems? What is the best advice you can offer?

Tags: handling customer problems, how to handle customer complaints
Posted in Customer service, customer loyalty | Comments Off

Providing helpful information

Tuesday, April 27th, 2010

How do you communicate with your customers? Chances are you have various forms of communication including a website, a brochure, posters and signs, enewsletter and so forth.  Are you communicating well with your customers? Are you providing them with enough information?

Many calls to customer service are to get answers to simple questions. For instance, a customer may want to send a check and doesn’t have the mailing address.  For a retail operation, a customer wants to know hours.  In short, customers want to know information that should be available to them easily throughout your communications.

To be sure you are providing the right information to your customers, conduct an audit. Start with your customer service to categorize the types of calls received.  Which categories seem to get the most calls? You may also consider having a third-party (a consultant, or someone neutral) take a look at your communications materials. Do they see any missing information?

Helpful information that should be available easily to your customers includes:

• Hours and days of operation (both when you are open and when you are closed)
• Holidays you observe (Columbus Day, for example)
• Important phone numbers: customer service, accounts payable/receivable, management
• Physical address (perhaps include a map/directions)
• Mailing address or addresses for different departments
• Names and contact information for key staff
• Customer policies (payments, returns, credits, etc.)
• Emergency procedures

Although this may seem self-evident, many websites and other marketing materials lack the basics. Having comprehensive information that is easily accessible will most likely result in fewer customer service calls.

What would you add to the list? Have you audited your materials?

Tags: basic information to include in communications, information and customer service
Posted in Customer service, How to improve customer service | Comments Off

How responsive is your company?

Thursday, April 22nd, 2010

Is your company responsive to customer needs? Are you aware of your customers’ needs?

These are two very important questions to ask yourself. Often, companies give little thought to their end users. There is a disconnect between company policies and customers needs. When that disconnect exists, customers will be unhappy with your company.

In business, there is a tendency to focus on getting new customers. Certainly, this is the way to grow. But it would benefit most businesses to see how they are doing with their existing customer base. Are the existing customers satisfied?

As Mark W. Johnson writes on his blog post, “A Better Way to Serve your Existing Customers,” on the Harvard Business Review blogs:

You should know a great deal more about your customers than any start-up could and be in the best position to spot new opportunities to serve them. But in practice, start-ups are able to pick off your customers because, rather than ask, as you do, “What would make people want to buy my products?” they ask, “What can I produce profitably that customers want?” Very often, the answer is, “Something that requires a different business model than your company is currently using.”

Johnson’s argument is that start-up companies succeed because they find ways to make customers happy and satisfied. Those ways are lacking at established companies because there may be too many procedures in place that do not respond well to customers’ needs.

Where is your company on this spectrum? Have you taken a look at your feedback? Is any particular issue coming up again and again? Indeed, do you even have a feedback mechanism, and if you do, what are you doing with feedback?

Tags: company responsiveness, customer needs
Posted in Customer service, How to improve customer service | Comments Off

The psychology of customer service

Tuesday, April 20th, 2010

When dealing with a customer, there could be many things going on in the mind of a customer service agent.  There could be a range of emotions from anger to grief to despair that could make the interaction go badly. Everyone suffers from negative emotions  but not everyone has to deal with other people when having those emotions. Customer service agents generally have to be upbeat and positive (or should try to be) no matter what. This is difficult.

We came across a very interesting take on customer service on a Psychology Today blog. The author, Signe Whitson, writes about the prevalence of passive aggressive behavior in customer service.  She says the following:

The customer service industry is especially ripe for situational passive aggressive behaviors in that service professionals are expected to demonstrate hospitable behaviors at all times. When faced with demanding patrons and customers, these workers may maintain their public smile while privately seething and plotting revenge.

Certainly, passive-aggressive behavior is especially insidious in customer service. Trying to seem helpful while not being so is very common and needs to be watched out for. There could be personality types that are more prone to this type of behavior. Passive aggressive behavior stems from unhappiness with a situation and the inability to deal with it head on. Some people resent “having to be nice.” Those people feel forced to put on a happy face and resent every minute of it. Of course, customers feel the brunt of this resentment.

How do you handle passive-aggressive behavior?

Tags: emotions and customer service, mood and customer service, passive aggressive behavior in customer service
Posted in Customer service | Comments Off

Is one good experience enough?

Thursday, April 15th, 2010

Sometimes you have extended interactions with a company, for instance during travel, negotiating a real estate transaction, setting up service, and so forth.  You may have to deal with various company representatives during an extended period of hours, days or even weeks.  In these cases, there is a high risk of a customer service failure.

When transactions are one-time or simple, the chance that things could go wrong is 50-50.  On the other hand, when transactions are complex, the chance that things could go wrong goes up exponentially. Many things have to work together to create a positive experience.

Take for instance the case of someone buying a home. He will have to deal with his real estate agent, the seller’s real estate agent, the loan officer, the home inspector, the title agent,  and perhaps even more people. In this case, all these people may work for different companies, so any bad interactions will reflect on one organization and not mar the entire transaction.

Let’s examine a situation where you are setting up a new account with a vendor. Several company representatives at all levels are involved. You have to get information from one to deal with another.  If most of the company representatives are helpful and efficient, you will probably feel OK about the company as a whole.  Your experience was relatively hassle-free and you got what you needed. But say that most of your interactions with this company were problematic. Someone didn’t get the right information, or sent the wrong paperwork. The account is taking a long time to set up. You are getting frustrated and upset, and want to cancel the transaction altogether. And then, one representative is so efficient, so pleasant and fixes the problem right away, that you feel that you can complete the transaction. Are you satisfied with this company?

In other words, is one good experience in a sea of bad experiences, enough to change your perception of a company?

There is no cut-and-dry answer to this.  For some people, one good experience makes up for all the bad experiences. And for others, it may be too little, too late. Where do you stand?

Posted in Customer service | Comments Off

Maybe more is more

Tuesday, April 13th, 2010

“Less is more.”

We hear that all the time–and it’s often true when it comes to jewelry, make-up, perfume, words, and other places where excess is noticeable and distracting. However, a place where less is more is NOT the case is in customer service. You can’t have less service and have it mean more to your customers. It simply does not work. You need more, not less.

If you have flown recently, you have personally experienced how less customer service turns into more problems and dissatisfaction.  If you have called any service provider for help with your credit card, your telephone bill, your cell phone service, most likely you have also experienced longer wait times and a harder time resolving your issues.

In order to avoid giving bad customer service, you must invest more–whether it is money, resources, staff or time.

Moshe BenBassat, writing on a Fortune Magazine blog, makes the plea: Stop laying off customer service workers! He says that increasing service costs the company money in the short term, but may result in gain in the long term (the service catch-22):

Adding people to the service force – or not cutting in a down economy- is likely to increase service quality and customer satisfaction ratings, but it also increases operating cost and hence decreases profit and earnings. Increasing cost impact a financial statement right away, while improvements in customer satisfaction tends to show up later and at a gradual pace. Thus, torn between the two alternatives—one with immediate impact, and one that may not show up for several quarters—many CEOs decide in favor of cost cutting steps, including layoffs in service departments.

Businesses and organizations must have a long term mentality. They must also consider another factor that BenBassat mentions:

…never underestimate the power of one unhappy customer. 90% share bad experiences with friends, colleagues and ‘followers’ online. With Twitter, Facebook and other social media networks, individual bad experiences become amplified and are eventually reflected in customer satisfaction ratings.

Basically, if you give less service the only thing you will have more of is unhappy customers. Keep that in mind!

Tags: more customer service
Posted in Customer service, How to improve customer service | Comments Off

What should customer service be?

Thursday, April 8th, 2010

Today, we are examining different ideas about customer service from around the web.

First, on the Service Untitled blog, author Cheryl discusses Spirit Airlines and its recent decision to start charging for carry-on bags. Cheryl makes the point that you have to provide service to your customers, not just deal with issues. She argues that if you want only to pay very low fares, and get no service whatsoever, you may be happy flying Spirit.

Lisa Mirza Grotts, writing on Huffington Post, says that you need to treat customers how you would want to be treated (the Golden Rule). As an etiquette expert, Grotts gives several tips including:

Think Before You Speak. Keep your tone friendly, even if you’re having a bad day.

Be Polite. It takes a lot less energy to be kind, so remain professional at all times. This could make the difference keeping an unhappy customer from moving on to the competition.

First Impressions Create Lasting Impressions. Begin and end every encounter on a positive note.

Lastly, writer Andrea Kay from Gannett says that casual customer service can leave a bad impression.  Service reps who try to act as if they are your friend perhaps don’t seem professional and able to help. Kay says the following:

I think this customer service rep – one of the most crucial jobs in a company – was trying to be down-home and friendly. You know, real casual like. But from the get-go he inspired anything but confidence and by the end of our call, I was no longer a fan of the company.

What are your thoughts on these issues?

Tags: casual customer service, customer service etiquette, Service Untitled blog
Posted in Customer service, How to improve customer service | Comments Off

Response needed

Tuesday, April 6th, 2010

Customer service is really about response.  A customer service attitude is one that takes the customers questions or complaints seriously and then deals with them. In fact, most customers just want a response, even if it is yes, I got your message and I am looking into it. When customers don’t get a response, they feel ignored and therefore as if they don’t matter to your business.

The Harvard Business Review has a great series of blogs, and we found a post called Web 2.0 Versus Service 1.o. The author, Tom Davenport makes the argument that the first issue that businesses should be considering, before getting on social media, is responding to their customers. He gives the example of a website solely launched for the purpose of giving Starbucks’ customers a way to vent their complaints. The problem is that Starbucks is not correcting their ways because people seem to complain about the same things over and over. In other words, just because you have a Web 2.0 way of interacting with your customers, does not take you off the hook for RESPONDING to your customers.

Remember, a response is ALWAYS needed.

Tags: customer service response, responding to customers
Posted in Customer service, How to improve customer service | Comments Off

Being more personal

Thursday, April 1st, 2010

At ARMA, Inc. we believe that personal customer service is the best customer service.  Studies seem to back this up, and the Los Angeles Times recently wrote the article “Personal touches are key  to customer service.” The author, Karen Klein, writes the following about how to personalize your customer service

Call them by name, ask about their families, suggest purchases for them. Be on time for appointments, when answering inquiries and with your shipments.

It seems rather elementary yet it is essential. Another factor is your staff. Be sure to hire people who like working with people. Too many customer service representatives seem to resent having to help, having to converse. But you will get farther with personnel who enjoy the people aspect of the job.

What do you do to personalize service?

Tags: personal customer service
Posted in Customer service, How to improve customer service | Comments Off

Rude customer service?

Thursday, April 1st, 2010

Rude customer service is not customer service at all. It is the opposite of service.  No one should tolerate rudeness from a CSR, ever. And no employer should allow a CSR to be rude. Rudeness bespeaks of an incredible lack of empathy, which of course is one of the main traits you should look for in any customer service representative.

How do you deal with rude CSRs? If you are on the receiving end, you should either ask to speak to a manager or you should deal with someone different. You may also want to tell the CSR that rudeness is not necessary, and see if the CSR can adjust.

If you are an organization, the problem of rudeness needs to rooted out. Rude CSRs can cost you business as potential customers will be dissatisfied and take their business elsewhere. It can also harm your image.

This week, the New Jersey Turnpike Authority announced it would give customer service training to its toll collectors, many of whom were being reported as being rude, grouchy or unhelpful. The Authority is also going to check out “rudeness hot spots.”  Clearly, rudeness needs to be dealt with.

How do you deal with rudeness? Please share your tips and insights.

Tags: new jersey turnpike customer service training, rudeness and customer service
Posted in Customer service, How to improve customer service | Comments Off