Don't Ignore Customer Complaints

Would you rather have 100 satisfied customers or 100 loyal customers? Would you rather have 100 customers who were pleased with your adequate but not memorable service or would you rather have 100 customers who enjoyed your assistance so much that they will contact you to purchase products over and over again?

Stanford Research Institute and Harvard University have determined that business success is 85% people skills and only 15% technical knowledge. This seems to suggest that most customers’ needs cannot be satisfied by technical brilliance alone. Communications skills, a customer service mentality, and knowledge of business strategies and issues must be part of our development as customer service professionals.

For example, how do we handle an irate customer with a legitimate problem? Let me present -

The Customer Complaint – 5 Step Recovery Process

1. Listen – That means Active Listening:

Active listening is listening with a purpose. You can gain information, obtain directions, understand others, solve problems, share interests, show support, or see how another person feels.

2. Restate the problem – Paraphrase:

Remember that what someone says and what we hear can be amazingly different! Our personal filters, assumptions, judgments, and beliefs can distort what we hear. Repeat back or summarize to ensure that you understand. Restate what you think you heard and ask, “Have I understood you correctly?” If not, ask them to clarify for your understanding.

3. Apologize – Sincerely!

Remember that forgiveness only happens when someone regains your trust. An apology is not complete if it does not reflect all four of these:

· Regret,

· Understanding of the problem,

· Acceptance of responsibility, and

· A willingness to do better

Insincere apologies:

· Beware of the “iffy” apology : “I’m sorry if I cause any inconvenience.” which means, “Your pain is still hypothetical to me, not something I’m convinced of. If there is no “if” about it, say so!

· The “But” Apology: Any apology of the form “I’m sorry, but ____.” i.e. “I’m sorry, but you have to understand…” Nothing before the “but” can safely be taken literally.

· How about this one, “Sorry bout’ that!”

4. Fix the problem! - Don’t put it off another day if at all possible. Here is where your technical expertise will most likely pay off.

5. Follow-up – Was the problem fixed to the customer’s satisfaction? Call, e-mail or show up at the customer’s desk or office. Follow-up with your customers and ask them how they liked your service or if they have any questions regarding your product or service. This is a great way to not only provide good customer service, but to also obtain feedback about your product and service. You are also creating the all important “LOYAL” customer.

DJC

Keeping Your Cool With Irate Customers

I thought you might enjoy this true customer service story. I don't condone the customer service agent's method, but it is good for a laugh. Here it is:

It happened at the Denver Airport. This is hilarious. I wish I had the guts of this girl. For all of you out there who've had to deal with an irate customer, this one is for you. An award should go to the United Airline gate agent in Denver for being smart and funny, while making her point, when confronted with a passenger who probably deserved to fly as cargo. A crowded United Airlines flight was canceled. A single agent was re-booking a long line of inconvenienced travelers. Suddenly an angry passenger pushed his way to the desk. He slapped his ticket on the counter and said: "I HAVE to be on this flight and it has to be FIRST CLASS." The agent replied: "I am sorry, sir. I'll be happy to try to help you, but, I've got to help these folks first, and I'm sure we'll be able to work something out." The passenger was unimpressed. He asked loudly, so that the passengers behind him could hear: "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHO I AM?" Without hesitating, the agent smiled and grabbed her public address microphone: "May I have your attention please, " she began, her voice heard clearly throughout the terminal. "We have a passenger here at Gate 14 WHO DOES NOT KNOW WHO HE IS. If anyone can help him find his identity, please come to Gate 14."

With the folks behind him in line laughing hysterically, the man glared at the United agent, gritted his teeth and swore "F*** You!". Without flinching, she smiled and said: "I'm sorry sir, you'll have to get in line for that too!"

It is hard to blame the agent - DJC

Do you recall NO CALL?

What ever happened to the telemarketing NO CALL LIST? As many of you have done, I also registered all my phone numbers with the "NO CALL" list the year it came out and my unwanted telemarketing calls nearly ceased for a couple of years. Recently, I have been getting as many telemarketing calls as I did before I registered my phone numbers! I said to one caller, "I am on the no call list. Why are you calling me?" He said, "When you signed up as a customer for our service, you also consented to hearing any new offers we have." I told the caller in no uncertain terms that if they did not take me off their call list that I would cancel my service immediately. He hung up before I could even finish my sentence. Very frustrating.

I don't know about you, but I consider this just another form of lousy customer service.

Let me know if you have suggestions.

DJC

TEAMQUEST

Good customer service takes teamwork. Good organizational leaders inspire their teams with innovating ideas for good customer service and listen to the ideas of their team. Most importantly, they treat their team members just as they wish them to treat each other, as internal customers! Here is one person's philosophy for managing customer service using the first letters in the word - TEAMQUEST.

“T” Train to Keep A "Can Do" Spirit– It may sound corny but, if you are like me, maybe you are also tired of the “We can’t do that.” attitude from customer service people, or worse, your own customer service people. An inspirational people skills training course is a good start, however, the leader must be the key to a "Can Do" spirit. If you can’t inspire your team with your vision and a sense of purpose and direction, no amount of training will change an attitude of indifference. Then you will never see your vision come to life.

“E” Excel in Service - What is service? Service is a process that requires constant strategic maneuvering, patience, and leadership. Communicating an emotionally and intellectually resonant sense of purpose, together with the outcome you want to achieve, will ignite the passion for customer service your team will need to enthusiastically embark on the journey with you. Stronger interpersonal relationships, along with improved processes, can be a winning combination for any organization that wishes to be more successful.

“A” Attitude, positive attitude in all we do – It is important that customer service become part of the company culture to be able to attract and sustain the loyalty of their customers. This customer service attitude may especially be important for employees that interact with internal as well as external customer daily. Tell stories from your customer’s perspective. How will your team’s positive attitude make an impact on specific moments in the customer’s everyday life? Answering customer questions can be done in many ways, but should always be done with a smile.

“M” Motivate each other daily to be at our best – Internal Customer Service = Successful leaders. Your colleagues are your customers and should be treated as such. From CEOs to presidents, to front-line managers, mastering the art of balancing reason and emotion to inspire action and change is a necessary part of directing people. You cannot motivate people to change, but you can inspire them to tap into their own internal motivations. According to the Center for Creative Leadership, lack of sensitivity to others is the most cited reason that leaders fail.

“Q” Question our customers – In any experience, organizations spend far more time explaining what they are innovating and how the process will work than the reason they are innovating. The key to innovating customer service is not so much in using one specific tool but in taking a balanced approach in all your communications, one that employs rational and emotional persuasion every step of the way. In dealing with both internal and external customers, how can you understand needs if you don’t ask? Otherwise, they are just perceived needs. Do not assume you know what the problem is!

“U” Understand customer needs – The negative impact of poor customer service is being reflected in the bottom lines of several companies in various industries. Customer service is the interaction between an individual(s) or an organization and customer in an attempt to provide a quality service and, in turn, produce a satisfied customer. You are setting the tone for the rest of the team.

“E” Exceed our customer's expectations Not only are companies more demanding than ever, customers are also more demanding. They demand that customer service professional be both a technically savvy and people persons. It makes providing customer service an unforgiving endeavor in the new economy. According to some studies, the main reason customers leave companies is caused by an attitude of indifference by the company’s employees.

“S” Strive for the highest possible standards – A well-articulated, emotionally and intellectually resonant purpose can give your team the resolve it needs to strive to do well. But fear of the unknown is still a powerful emotional barrier to action. To fully energize and inspire people for the journey ahead, you need to describe the outcome of their efforts as meaningfully and vividly as you can.

“T” Thoughtfulness and professionalism always – Many of you have experienced the exasperated attitude of a customer service person who only wants to fix the problem and not deal with the customer. Not only has this person not taken the time to explain the problem, but has been short to the point of rudeness with their customer, all the while looking at their watch and rolling their eyes. They leave the customer frustrated hesitant to ever deal with the company again.

However, many have also had positive experiences with customer service personnel. These professionals listened to the customer’s concerns and descriptions of the problem, went to work on what he or she perceived to be the source of the problem, all the while explaining his or her approach. After correcting the problem, malfunction, or glitch, they show the customer how to avoid the problem in the future. This leaves the customer with a good feeling about the company. Remember, employees and managers are also customers – internal customers.

Positive team spirit and leading by example can result in great internal and external customer service for your organization.

DJC