Customer Service Archives
February 13, 2007
Power to the People
Customer service. Yes, we've all heard how important it is. And rightly so. After all, any company's life is absolutely dependent on having (and keeping) customers. Judging by the way it's been hammered home by every teacher I've had and all the talk of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) being bandied about, you'd be inclined to think that it's obvious just how paramount it is.
But I don't think the true power of customer service is entirely recognized. To illustrate my case, I'd like to present a brief story about a drama that is unfolding right now. Names have not been changed, mostly because I don't know any of them. According to reports from a friend embroiled in this situation, there is an online company that specializes in selling either individual parts or entire sets from a hobby company. The manufacturing company and this parts company are not affiliated. This is one of the largest parts-selling companies outside of the actual manufacturer and their subsidiaries.
On a forum devoted to this hobby (one of the three largest on the internet, thanks to its steady stream of "sneak peaks" into coming releases), a user posted their experience with the parts company. It details a story of an error in shipping, that when the user attempted to remedy it, was given a coupon and promised free shipping next time they ordered. When they ordered the next day, they were told the coupon had expired. After this post went live, my source and several other users posted similar tales of mistreatment after poor shipping and lack of corrective measures. One even detailed an email reply that had been forwarded around the office, and sent to a customer with the employees comments still attached, one of which included an accusation about his motives, complete with use of the "f-word" in regards to the customer. After this went on, an employee who was on the forum posted a poorly worded response (lacking in an apology), and was caught saying that some people are just impossible to please. Shifting the blame onto the customers.
This thread has apparently reached well over 3000 views so far. These are all people who will tell their friends, who will in turn tell their friends. This is a PR nightmare.
Getting back to my point, customer service is now more vital than it has ever been, thanks to two huge factors: (1) customers are now more savvy and full of clout than ever before, and (2) yes, you guessed it: the internet. The internet has made information widely available (well, we all knew this), and has made it so easy to inform or opine. As I said above, that's roughly 3000 people at least who may never use that company's services. That's pretty rough, considering this is a niche market.
This is especially important for an online business. After all, if your customer service reputation just took a broadside on a popular internet forum, and you do business over the internet, you're gonna hurt a while. It's absolutely vital to maintain proper customer service, ESPECIALLY if something goes wrong. And for God's sake, if you're going to make fun of your customer by forwarding a complaint around the office, delete your snarky self-righteous comments! Ouch, man.
In order to end on a positive note, let me give you an example of flawless customer service. I ordered a mug from an online business as a Christmas present. I ordered early enough for it to arrive in time. However, due to backordering, no updates to my order on the website, and some unexplained delays, it did not arrive before I left for the holidays. I emailed them to ask what had gone on. When I returned, I found the mug waiting for me. So I informed them that it had arrived. I then received a reply to my original complaint, that they had sent me a replacement. I rushed to inform them that it had arrived, and that I had made the mistake. The following is the actual verbatim reply to that email:
Thanks for the message. Your replacement mug has already been shipped. Please keep the replacement as a token of the underwhelming delivery speed of your first order.
Also, let me note that this was a $20 mug, with a $10 shipping charge. $30 is nothing compared to what else I might spend at that site over the next several years (which until then, was going to be $0). THAT is how you do customer service. Keep that in mind.
The customers are revolting. And I don't mean gross.
Until next time,
JW
Posted by JW on February 13, 2007 9:17 PM | Permalink
June 4, 2007
The best investment for your business
Think about the last few companies you've had to deal with (as a customer). Did any of them stand out? Good, bad, anything? If they did, I'll bet you anything that the defining factor was customer service.
I know I've blogged about this before. And so have many others before me. But it bears repeating. And I feel like telling a story.
I'm a Rogers customer. Mostly. I have their phone, their internet, and their cable. I've been with them less than a year, and prior to that, I'd always been a Bell guy. My roommate convinced me to get Rogers for our apartment this year, so I decided to give them a shot. The initial set-up was a little rough. Because I didn't have a credit card at the time, and thus no credit (hey, what do you expect from a student?), I had to be put on a pre-authorized billing plan. But hey, no biggie- saves me the trouble of having to pay it myself. So we get it all arranged, and wait for the installation.
Here's where we hit a snag. They hooked up the net and tv, but no phone. So I called them up (on my Bell cellphone), and it turns out I can't put a phone on a bank account for pre-authorized billing. Only credit card. The woman tells me it's their company policy. Now, this is where most conversations end. "It's our policy, sorry." "It's our policy, I'm afraid there's nothing I can do." "Policy. You're SOL, friend." But instead, the CSR on the other end said, "I'll see what I can do."
Maybe a week later, my credit card arrives in the mail. I get it all set-up, I'm ready to go. I'm about to call Rogers, and they call me. The woman on the other end (same one, I might add), tells me that she's gone ahead and put my phone on the same account as the cable and internet. Great!
All is well for the next few months. Then one day, I get one of my bills, and they've double-billed me. Oh geez. I've heard horror stories of people having to argue with companies forever about this stuff. So I email them about it. The very same day, I get a reply: they made a mistake, and they'll take care of it. So a month later, I check my next bill and my bank account: not only did they remove the extra charge, they charged me less the next time around.
Nothing they did here was over the top or fantastically expensive. But it was a little extra care and effort. And what did they get? Likely a life-long customer, a very vocal proponent of their services, and a new cellphone customer once my Bell contract is up.
Looks like they just increased their return!
Until next time,
JW
Posted by JW on June 4, 2007 9:54 PM | Permalink
July 23, 2007
Start doing things on your customer's time
Let's say you provide your customer with a service. Sure, that's what business is all about. And you do your utmost to make sure that they get the very best. But are you working to the beat of your customer's drum, or to your own?
This post may be considered more of a rant than anything, so let me warn you in advance. I want to talk to you about Anti-virus programs.
I have a subscription to one such program (which I will restrain myself from identifying). It's served me well. It stops intrusions and gets rid of unwelcome visitors like trojans and viruses. It does its job, and I'm thankful. But there is one TINY little feature that they omitted, and it's caused me frustration to no end.
Because of the ever-evolving world of viruses (virae?), it is important to update the database of threats regularly. I understand this. My problem is that the company has stripped the program of any user control of updates.
My computer is roughly 5 years old. And it's still working better than many computers do after 3. But it's full of files and doesn't have as much free space and available RAM as it used to. So keeping control of my processes is critical for me. I've stripped out some dead weight, and for the most part, things run smoothly. Then along comes our old friend, Antivirus. SEVERAL times a day, this program insists on checking for updates. Which takes up VAST amounts of CPU usage and memory while it's doing it. So my computer slows to a crawl, and whatever I was doing at the time has to be put on hold. Programs sputter and crash, dvds become choppy and skip, and words I type appear seconds after I type them (that doesn't sound too bad, but I want you to see how much you type in five seconds and understand how far behind that puts you). All so it can update itself. Again. And again. And again.
Now, as I have said before: I know it has to update. I don't begrudge it that. But I am annoyed that I, the user, the person who shelled out money for a subscription, cannot have it on my terms. I am away from my computer for at least 9.5 hours every week day. That's more than a third of every day that I am not using the computer, so I won't mind if it spends all its resources. So I set the program to scan my computer while I'm out at work, then go into hibernation to save energy and stop turning my room into a sauna. Why, why, WHY can't I do the same for the update schedule?
This rant seems way off course, I know. But it's a key example of how sometimes overlooking the simplest thing can drive your customers nuts, and drive them away. Like this program, you might do your job; you might be great at it, you might exceed all of your customers' expectations. But if you inconvenience your customer or don't allow them to do things on their own terms, they won't stick around for long. I know I will be taking my business elsewhere if they don't fix this by the time my subscription lapses.
Until next time,
JW
Posted by JW on July 23, 2007 10:11 PM | Permalink
August 3, 2007
Treat your customers like blog subscribers
You must think I've gone off my rocker. I can just hear you clicking on the comment link, just waiting to ask me why in the name of all that's Holy I would suggest you treat customers like blog readers. Well, there's a perfectly rational explanation, and it has nothing to do with sending your clients rss feeds.
I'm referring to responsiveness. One of the biggest factors that excites me about a blog is how the author responds to the readers.
Brian Clark of Copyblogger fame makes regular appearances on his own comment board to reply to anybody who contributes to the conversation in a meaningful way. He has far too many readers to reply to every comment, but when somebody adds their two cents and adds something relevant to the conversation (rather than someone saying "Good post!" and linking back to their own blog), Brian is sure to keep the dialogue going. Brian qualifies his readers as real readers rather than skimmers and shameless self-promoters, just like you would qualify prospects as potential clients rather than window-shoppers.
Mike Sigers of Simplenomics does the same as Brian, but takes it a couple steps further. Mike doesn't seem to get as many commenters, and is also a consummate salesman, so he does in fact reply to EVERY comment. I believe he even posted about it. He is quick to thank any poster and welcome newbies, and even quicker to chew out abusive comments. Mike leaves no inquiry or sales call hanging, and treats every new arrival as a valued 'customer'. He also has no patience for troublesome clients who prove to be liabilities.
Chuck Westbrook of I Hate Your Job is the "small business" of the bunch I'm talking about today. He replies to every comment (in length, as well) and if my experience mirrors others' he even sends emails offering thanks for comments and reading. In fact, he even emailed me asking me to add my two cents to a discussion going on over there right now. When you're competing with a big market like blogs and you're a new face, you need to stand out. And one of the best ways to do it is with beyond outstanding customer service. Leave nobody unanswered and they will be loyal to you. And when you invite current clients to participate in an exercise or experience that adds value, you show them that you care about their needs. Every salesman should try this at least once.
I'm also going to use myself as one last example. Rather, this post. If you promise a post to your readers, you need to deliver. I promised this post to Chuck, and it wasn't until today (and following an email from him) that I delivered. The same goes for...well, anybody in real life. FOLLOW THROUGH.
These are just a few examples of how you can improve your customer service/client relations by just being responsive. I recommend you give them a try. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm currently enjoying some time off from work and spending the long weekend (plus a few extra days) in Muskoka. I will be back in the big city in the middle of next week. And I hope to return with a post expanding on one of the points I mentioned today, as well as a few entries on Key of J. (Preview: Greatest hits albums and a certain Boss...but not the kind in your office). In the meantime, I have a date with a book, a dock, and a bottle of Alexander Keith's.
Until next time,
JW
Posted by JW on August 3, 2007 10:05 AM | Permalink
September 6, 2007
I can't stress this enough...
Hello there! Sorry for the long delay. I was offline longer than expected; and that leads nicely into my topic for today. Customer service can go a long way, but if you drop the ball, you'd better hope you can fix it while there's still goodwill left over.
I wrote before about how happy I am with Rogers. Well, that relationship's been strained lately. When the Saturated Market Headquarters moved, I had my internet moved from the old location to the new one. Problem is, the technician left with the job unfinished. The service wasn't working, but instead of staying to fix it, he just left. So I had to wait 5 days for a new tech. I was offline for about half of that, then managed to use the old connection still at the house (from Sympatico, competitor numero uno). So that was a bit of a loss.
Also, seems that in the move they turned off my email account. The one that I needed to keep above all. The reason I moved this account instead of transferring it to my roommate and starting a new one. And while they can usually fix that from tech support, they had to get the engineers to do it manually...and I'm still waiting. That's my account I use for resumés. Needless to say, I'm upset.
The only things keeping me with them are 1) a history of going above and beyond (until now), 2) a history of getting screwed by Bell/Sympatico, and 3) the hope that getting this all resolved will be less work than changing services. So. They're going to have to build all that trust up again.
However, there is some good news. After trying unsuccessfully for 2 days to fill an important prescription at the local pharmacist, I tried again today; they had 2 epipens (for my allergies), but I needed 3. The owner of the branch said he was going to another store to get more, and even VOLUNTEERED to deliver the last one to me himself. Which he did. So. I'm very happy about that.
It just goes to show: Customer service can buoy a sinking reputation, kill an already good one, and establish trust.
We are customers, and we are fickle.
Until next time,
JW
Posted by JW on September 6, 2007 7:30 PM | Permalink
September 15, 2007
Stylish suggestions for customer service
It's been a busy week, what can I say! Between travel, appointments, project management, presentations and conferences, I haven't had time to blog; I have, however, found time in that busy schedule to learn from an expert in customer relations: my barber.
Keep 'em coming back
I really shouldn't be surprised. I've been going to the same shop since 1989. I don't always have the same barber, but I do try. I should also mention that I haven't really lived in the town where it is located since 2002. But if I have reason to be there, I find it's worth it to wait that extra week or so to get my hair cut. And barbers love it when they have dedicated clientele. If they're good, they'll get people waiting for them; that makes them look good to their boss, and gets them more tips. So it's very important for them, just like salespeople. Here, for your benefit, are a few things I picked up from my experiences, and from talking with them.
Know the style
Every time I get a return barber (even when I'm testing out a new place closer to where I live), they always remember exactly what they did, and can do it again. This is especially good since I often have no idea what it was. It may have been over a month, and they have other people to cut, but I always seem to get remembered. And that's good. It saves me time explaining, and means I'll get that great cut I got last time. Always remember your customers preferences and nuances. A little bit goes a long way. This is the power of CRM.
Keep in mind - Don't try to fake it. You may have a lot of customers to try to remember, but they only have to remember one good or bad representative. If they've never dealt with you before, don't try to convince them they have. They'll see right through it, and it'll turn them off.
A little extra goes a long way
On my first trip to a small shop here in the city, I once had a haircut I really did not enjoy. The look was meh, the process was kinda painful, and I remember thinking, "never again". But at the end, on a men's cut, the barber straightens out the back and sides with a precise razor. This particular barber used hot foam and a straight-edge. And that really made me sit up and take notice (not to mention sit very still). My back-home barber shop has raised their prices almost double from when I first started going. However, somewhere along the line they started washing hair for everyone at the end, which kinda justified that high cost a little for me. Sometimes you can really make a difference by doing something special for your customers, and maybe smooth out some rough experiences.
Keep in mind - If you start doing a little something extra on a regular basis and then start neglecting it, you can really create a negative impression. If it becomes part of the overall experience, you can't change your mind on a whim and just stop. The sudden change will not be well received.
Do what you're told
If you went to a barber and told them exactly what you wanted, but walked out with something totally different, you wouldn't be happy, would you? Same goes for business. When you do something for a customer, make sure you address their needs, not your own. Do what they want, not what you think they want. A bad hair cut, they have to live with. A lost customer is YOUR problem.
Get your own!
On a more inter-business note, don't try to compete with your own kind for their clientele. Regular customers will often prefer to deal with the same person, and if you try to hijack it, you might scare them off, kill a great relationship, and you will certainly annoy the person you took them from.
Learn the territory
If you find yourself in a new region or company, remember that you need to work within their boundaries, not those of your old one. My barber was talking about a coworker who had come from a discount cutter, and so did things far too fast, had little regard for existing relationships, and would cut corners and forget crucial steps (you can see where much of this post comes from now, right?). If you find yourself making a switch, you need to learn that sometimes you have to work within new rules.
Keep in mind - Don't let this scare you off from using your personal style; that's what differentiates you from your peers.
Make the cut
Everything we know about customer service doesn't come from business school; it comes from being tested in the field, and knowing what makes people happy. Treat people well, and they will keep coming back and being satisfied. Hair may change, but good customer service will never go out of style.
Until next time,
JW
