Tips to Help You Love Your Customers

A few months ago, author and customer service guru Michael D. Brown appeared as my guest on Indie Business Radio. As the author of Fresh Customer Service, Michael had a lot to say about the decline in customer service over the years and what Indie Business owners can and should do to make sure that poor customer service habits do not kill their businesses.

          

If you missed that show, listen to it now so you can incorporate Michael's tips to help you love your customers. I know Michael would have some choice advice to offer the company my business partner husband and I had to deal with earlier today. Let me tell you what happened.

The Bait

It all started yesterday when Darryl ordered an high quality Canon camera so he could take even better pictures for his growing client base. Instead of ordering from his usual camera equipment supplier, he tried a new one, which advertised online the equipment he wanted for far less than his regular supplier.

Always the careful businessman, Darryl called the new company to make sure his understanding of what they were offering, and for what price, was correct.

Once everything was confirmed, Darryl placed his order online.

The Switch

This morning, Mr. West, a customer service representative from the company called, ostensibly to confirm Darryl's order. The speaker phone was on and I heard the whole conversation, which quickly turned into a classic example of bait and switch.

Mr. West told Darryl that the product he ordered did not really come with all the bells and whistles he thought he had seen listed at the website. Mr. West further said that, in order to get all of the stuff he ordered, he would have to buy a "kit," which of course contained things he really didn't need.

The B.S.

This, of course, increased the overall price by several hundred dollars.

Every time Darryl tried to ask a question or request clarification, Mr. West interrupted him to tell him that he could get everything he needed and more for less money than he'd pay anywhere else in the world, if he would just order the kit. Oh, and the extended warranty.

It quickly became clear that Mr. West was not the slighted bit interested in what Darryl wanted. He only wanted to sell  as much stuff as possible and then move onto the next sucker.

After about 20 minutes of Mr. West's going for the jugular, all the while completely ignoring every question my patient husband asked him, it was over. Darryl canceled the order and asked Mr. West for the order number, email address, etc., so the cancellation could be documented.

More Bait and Switch (also known as B.S.)

Mr. West then announced that the credit card would be charged a 12% cancellation fee. Of course this is all before the order was confirmed and shipped. End of phone call. End of customer relationship. Beginning of blog post with my top 3 simple things you can do to improve customer service.

The Tips

1. Ask How You Can Be Helpful. "How can I help you?" This simple question sets the tone for your interaction and also does wonders to smooth over a difficult situation. It lets the customer know that you are focused on them. Not on defending yourself. Not on up-selling them. But you are fully and completely focused on enhancing the next few minutes of their lives.

Customers who are genuinely interested in having their problem resolved will be able to articulate exactly how you can be helpful, and they will be open to alternative solutions if you offer them.

2. Listen. At the end of the day, people just want to be heard. So after you ask how you can be helpful, show them that you mean it by listening. By giving them a chance to explain things from their perspective. Let them do that.

Of course there will sometimes be people who just want to keep you on the phone so they can complain for an hour. In such cases, you have to decide whether their beef is worth an hour of your time. Each situation will be different, but the bottom line is that, the first step to handling a customer service issue is to listen well before responding. Only after you've heard enough to pinpoint the situation from the customer's perspective will you be able to respond in a meaningful way.

3. Let the Sale Go. First impressions are important. But so are last ones.

Letting the sale go may be difficult, but sometimes, it's best for everyone. If a customer is clearly upset with you, and you feel as though there is nothing you can do to make things right, then politely and respectfully let them go. A nice email message can go a long way toward making a good impression as you make an exit.

Like Michael said on my show, nobody has a monopoly on products or services nowadays. The only way you differentiate yourself is through the experience you offer to your customers.

Customers today want you to make an investment in them by giving them a positive and memorable experience that they cannot get anywhere else.

Oh, and what did Darryl do after canceling the order? He placed his order with Adorma, his regular supplier. It took about 3 minutes and was completely B.S.-free.

Moral of this blog post? Good customer service pays. Oh, and also, don't order from 1 way photo.com because the customer relationship is definitely -- well, "one way."

What about you?

Have your painful customer service experiences helped you see things from your customers' perspective? What are examples of the best and worse customer service you've ever received? What tips do you have for offering supreme customer service?

Comments

[Anne-Marie]

That's a great reminder about customer policies that attract customers versus repel them. And, it took guts post the name of the company that totally tried to bait'n'switch your hubby. Good for you.

The same thing happened to my Dad with a camera company. I'll have to see if it's the same one...

[Anne-Marie]

PS - You might try to write up a review here:

http://www.everyprice.com/merchant.asp?merchant_id=4409&view=reviews

[Michael D. Brown]

Your frontline employees can bankrupt you!

The experience that Daryl went through is happening at an alarming rate and is leading to the demise of many companies (big and small).

A number of companies have used up selling as a method for increasing their sluggish bottom line and have tied incentives in for their employees- so the employees feel compelled and pressured to make you buy more so they receive a favorable review for their performance by management.

The training for the employees is all about getting the customer to buy more. With little attention giving to helping the employees became active listeners and empathizers to the customer.

When customers feel that you genuinely care about what they have to say, are sensitive to their needs and show a commitment to ensuring that they receive the right product/service based on what you heard they are more likely to open their wallet today and well into the future.

Tip for business owners who have employees:

1. Call up your business and act like you are the customer (go through the process of ordering a product/service or inquiring about a product/service)
2. Hang up the Phone
3. Breathe
4. Is what you just experienced the experience that you want your customers to receive?
5. If the answer is yes look for ways to make it even better
6. If the answer is no figure out where the gaps are and close them today

Tip for business owners who serve as the face to the customer as well:

1. Ask a friend to have one of their friends to stop by your business unannounced and buy a product or service
2. Have them to give you feedback after the purchase
3. Thank them for their feedback and give them a gift
4. Does the feedback that she/he provided align with the experience that you want your customers to experience
5. If the answer is yes look for ways to make it even better
6. If the answer is no figure out where the gaps are and close them today

www.TheMichaelDBrown.com
www.FreshCustomerService.com

[donna]

A good customer service experience I can post, well I've had a good and bad at the same place so I'll share both.

I'll start with the good. There is a soul food restaurant here in Philly that I absolutely adore, it was voted best soul food restaurant last year I believe by Black Enterprise. And as an entrepreneur I'm always motivated when I dine here because all of the details were thought out and it's a prime example of what to model in business. The place is small but the owner utilized it well, very neat, clean and decor LOOKS high end, even down to the restroom everything is beautiful. Then the wait staff is always attentive and if they're having a bad day, ya can't tell. Lastly the food is good but I think the care taken in the look of the restaurant and the customer service makes it more appealing than the food itself even. If those two things weren't so great, the food probably would stand out less IMO.

I'd recently won tickets via this restaurant where I was given two free tickets to see Color Purple and two free dinners at the restaurant. I informed them that service was excellent even when dining for free:)So needless to say really enjoy this place.

The not so good experience I had there was with an employee who I believe did not place my order until I returned to pick it up, I'd gone in for a take out order that day and informed her I'd be back to pick it up. And she also was a bit funny acting about using my credit card, even after showing her ID, just took a little too long IMO in examining everything. She came off as a higher up or family member so I was easier on the business itself because I knew it wasn't the owner and perhaps a cousin got a wee too big headed and thought she could treat me as she did:). Also I'm mistaken as being younger than I am often which gets a weird response but utilizing protocal where EVERYONE gets carded would eliminate the possibility of wrong judgement.

At any rate I didn't report this to a manager at the time, chalked it up to one bad experience out of tons of good ones. But when I took the survey that won me the contest I informed them of that experience and perhaps that's what led to my win:):)