With my apologies to David Letterman, let me present (in my opinion) the Service-Inspired Top Ten Customer Service Mistakes made by leaders of corporations, customer service reps and their managers.
10. Lack of knowledge about how much a lost customer can cost your company - in fact, you have the least experienced people handle your most important asset! Lost customers means lost revenues and profits.
9. You are not keeping your promises - you advertise one thing then make it impossible for your customers to deal with you!
8. You look at customer service as a cost instead of what it really is, an investment - It costs up to ten times more to attract new customers than to keep present ones.
7. You ignore the customer's problem! - This is the beginning of a crisis.
6. You don't listen to your customers! - you do plenty of talking, and may think you know what their problem is, but you did not hear it. Shut up and listen!
5. Corporate leaders and managers also don't listen to their customer service reps - these are the people on the front lines of the customer relationships, they know about your customers; you only think you do.
4. Lack of FOLLOW-UP! - Call your customers and ask, "Did we resolve your issue to your satisfaction?" If they say "no", ask them what it would take. "You are important to us." This applies to customer service reps, managers, and corporate leaders as well.
3. Customer service is only lip service - is customer service part of your company culture, or just something you casually mention while you talk about increasing your profits? Guess what, you want to increase your profits? Make customer service part of your Mission and Vision Statements, then require everyone in the organization to adhere to strict customer service standards.
2. Don't promote your best customer service people to management, give them a raise! - you need your best people on the front lines, not behind the scenes.
1. And, the number one customer service mistake is - Don't Smile!
Is anyone listening? Let me know some things you think should be added to the list. Maybe we can come up with a top 40.
Thanks,
DJC
