The Customer Authority

My best friend Karen and I decided we wanted to take a trip to Austin to visit another good friend of ours in July. Karen had an AirTran Airways ticket to Boston that she wasn’t able to use and wanted to transfer the credit over for the ticket to Austin.

She tried to make the arrangements online, but wasn’t sure if the credit would be switched over properly. Since there was no way to access her credit online, Karen went ahead and called AirTran’s customer service line.

When she spoke to the customer representative, she was informed that she would be charged $15 for their assistance. Apparently Air Tran charges a direct booking fee simply to have a live person assist you instead of doing it yourself.

Let me tell you, my jaw dropped to the floor when she told me about this. I can’t believe ANY company would charge money – let alone $15 dollars – to try to force you to do your booking online. I’m still stunned!

Maybe I’m clueless and more companies do this than I’m aware of; probably because I usually try to do everything online anyway and avoid talking to customer service reps whenever possible. But if this is standard practice, I’m appalled.

In my opinion, if you have a customer service representative that you’ve hired to assist customers, then this means you expect customers to have need of their help. There should be no extra charge to a customer if they aren’t capable of completing an online transaction without assistance. To me, it’s punishing the customer for their lack of knowledge – whatever it may be. And in my friend’s case, she was being punished for something that wasn’t her fault in the first place.

Let me ask you readers – is this common practice? Have you run across companies who force you to pay fees for using their “direct service” instead of doing it yourself online? Which companies were they and how did you handle it?

Great article today on CNN.com about customer service vigilantes (read here)– customers who are so frustrated with getting the service they need, they do whatever they can to get it. This includes everything from finding ways to get to the CEO, blogging about a company’s poor service, and using social networking communications to spread the word on poor service.

On the one hand, I applaud the vigilantes. The need for extreme action on a customer’s part wouldn’t be necessary if it wasn’t becoming more and more common for service to be poor. When vigilantes take action, it only creates better service for everyone.

On the other hand, I wouldn’t want to have people read the article and then think, “Hmmmm – maybe I should just go to the top for ALL my problems and then I won’t have to worry about ANY problems anymore”. There’s a chain of command in companies for a reason. Use it appropriately if they can help.

The one line of the article that stood out above all others is the one line I want all of you to read, and then read again. Because it’s true and it’s coming:

“Customer service is going to be the new differentiator. Price isn’t the deciding factor anymore — it’s service.”

Have I not already been telling you this? Then hopefully you’ve been listening and you’re already well ahead of the game. Just like I thought you’d be.

If you haven’t had a chance to check out USA Today’s new article on Twitter, you should check it out. (find article here)

The article focuses on the growth of Twitter, the direction it’s taking and what it could become in the future. It also interviews the three main founders of Twitter and goes into detail on who they are and how they came together to create the escalating social media phenomenon.

I found the article interesting as I just recently signed up for Twitter (about 4 days ago) and am still figuring out how I want to use it. But it’s been fun seeing my “followers” grow from 0 to over 100 in just two days, but I’m suspecting that many of these are simply for “quid pro quo” or “I follow you if you follow me”.

That’s ok though. The hope is there will be several more out there that will find The Customer Authority and be able to use it as an advantage for themselves and their customers. That’s the hope anyway.

In the meantime – keep on Tweeting!

P.S. Here’s my Twitter link if you’d like to follow me there: http://twitter.com/CustAuthority

The following customer service story was submitted by Sarah Mitchell from Fremantle, Western Australia. I have to say I absolutely love this story! Not only does it emphasize a child’s despair and a mother wanting to do anything to fix it, but it also demonstrates a touching example of how some companies can and will go above and beyond just to make a customer’s day. It obviously was not about the money or anything else for this business, it was about generosity and making people happy. I don’t think they could have done any better! Read on for a great story:

Hi Michelle,

My son recently purchased a “destination” piece to go with his Thomas the Tank Engine set called Toby’s Windmill. He’s five and used his birthday money. It was a big deal. The set included the windmill that attached to his existing track, two wooden flour barrels and a cart to carry the barrels along the track to the windmill.

The same day he bought it, the flour barrels went missing. He was crushed. I felt bad for him because there had been other kids playing with his new toy and no one seemed to know what happened to them. I started to look around for replacement parts and couldn’t find anything. I began to search on-line with no luck. The manufacturer’s website had no information about purchasing extra parts. I even looked on eBay.

I contacted a specialist on-line toy train company here in Australia called Toot Toot Toys. I explained my dilemma and asked if I could purchase replacement parts from them. They wrote back and said they couldn’t help me but had forwarded my letter to the manufacturer, Learning Curve. I expected this was another dead end.

Shortly after, a customer-service representative named Jessica Lee from RC2 Learning Curve Australia contacted me about my request. We exchanged a couple emails. She told me they had extra flour barrels. When I enquired about the price, she told me they would be free of charge. She then wrote back and asked me if I would like to have the package addressed to my son because she knew little kids liked to get their own mail.

A week later, we got a parcel in the mail that had two replacement flour barrels, a cart to carry them in, a “Thomas and Friends” storybook and a new catalogue. Inside was a handwritten note to my son wishing him lots of fun and signed “From Thomas and all his friends”. Needless to say, I have one delighted little boy on my hands.

I’m delighted as well. My problem has been solved. I didn’t incur any charge. The customer service representative went out of her way to personalize the service for my son. They included extra product in the package.

So hats off to www.toottoottoys.com.au and to RC2 Learning Curve Australia, especially to Jessica Lee.

Jessica Lee

Customer Relations

RC2 Australia T/A Learning Curve

PO Box 653

Mount Waverley VIC 3149

Tel: (03) 9550 3640

Fax: (03) 9550 3670

Email: jessical@rc2aust.com.au

Website: www.rc2aust.com.au

Cheers,

Sarah Mitchell

Fremantle, Western Australia

I was browsing around the internet again and ran across a press release from a business called Contact Centers of America. They were promoting how they were going “Re-Invent the Contact Center Industry” (read article here).

My curiosity was aroused, so I decided to read further. I wanted to know why they thought it needed to be re-invented. And I wanted to know just exactly how they planned to do it.

As I read further, they mentioned how they wanted to change the focus of businesses from “bottom-line revenue and outsourcing” to “Customer Service and Satisfaction. Couldn’t agree with them more that this needs to be done.

When it came to the “how” of how they were going to do this, I was mildly surprised. As per the CCA’s president/CEO and founder, Joe Jacoboni states, his vision is to “bring contact center services back to America and to use the natural “human resources” we have in this country as its workforce.” He goes on to say, “My vision for CCA is to reshape and revolutionize the contact center industry”.

Use the natural human resources we have. Really? That’s the big “re-invention” he has in mind? Not to sound immodest here, but I could have told him that.

Don’t get me wrong, I applaud the desire to turn attention directly back on the customer and building their satisfaction. Heck, this blog wouldn’t even exist if I thought there wasn’t a problem out there in the first place.

I just don’t consider his idea a “re-invention”. Perhaps “re-focus” would be the better term to use here.

Nevertheless, I agree wholeheartedly with CCA’s idea of extreme customer satisfaction. Any company trying to make a better experience for the customers out there is a good one in my book.

But as you know I like to preach, customer service excellence is about common sense. It’s about learning about your customer, knowing your customer, and catering directly to your customer to the best of your abilities and more. No “re-invention”. No “revolutionary”ideas. Just simple caring, understanding, and action.

Have you ever been in a store, or on the phone with a customer service representative, and get the distinct feeling they’d rather be anywhere else than helping you?

Yeah – I’ve been there too.

While I know that a $7-$10 hour job isn’t the greatest thing to wake up to every morning, I’d like people to at least pretend they want to help me. At the very least, point me to someone who wants to.

Which bring us to our numbers 13 and 14 on the Top 25 Things You Should Do In Customer Service list:

• Let the customer know you are there to help them

• Let a customer know what steps you’re taking to help them

Seems pretty straight-forward, right? Well, it is – but you’d be surprised by how many service representatives fail at these two steps.

Don’t get me wrong – it’s almost an automatic response for any customer service rep to ask a customer how can they help them. The question is – do they really follow through with helping them – or even care?

When a customer seeks assistance, they want someone to help them who is confident. They want someone who not only knows how to take care of the problem, but WILL take care of the problem for them.

Or maybe there’s not even a problem. Maybe they just have a simple question, or need to be pointed in the right direction.

Regardless of what their need is, it’s your responsibility to make sure you go out of your way to not only help them, but to let them know HOW you’re helping them.

How do you let a customer know how you’re going to help them? Easy. You TELL them how.

That may sound a bit patronizing, and honestly, that’s not my intent here. I’m simply pointing it out because I’ve seen it happen hundreds of times where the customer is left without a clue what is going on behind the scenes while they wait for someone to help them.

Why is this important? If you’ve been on the other end of this as a customer, you already know why. And if you’re anything like me, you want to know what’s going on at all times.

It’s extremely frustrating to have to wait on someone and not know if they’re actually doing anything to help you. Which doesn’t bode well for a customer’s patience. And the last thing you want on your hands is an even more irritated customer.

So keep it simple and give them the facts – just the facts ma’am.

Here’s an example of a typical way I would handle this:

“So Mr. Customer, here’s what I’m going to do to help resolve your problem” (remember to repeat the problem back to them so they know you understand it correctly).

“First, once I get off the phone with you, I’m going to contact the service techs to see if we can get that install date pushed up for tomorrow. I’ll have to confirm with them before anything else, so I’ll do my best to get you the date you need.

Next, once I confirm the date, I’ll contact the warehouse and expedite your shipment order so we can get it immediately.

Then I’ll contact your sales rep and let him know what’s going on and make sure he contacts you today as well.

I’ll call you back no later than 3pm today to let you know what’s going on and confirm everything, or let you know if we run into any problems. Is that ok with you? And here’s my number just in case you need to contact me sooner or haven’t heard from Sales.”

Keep it brief, clear-cut, and in order. The customer will no longer have to worry about anything because they know exactly what you’re doing.

When you do this, you’re asserting your authority, and in turn, your customer maintains confidence you’ll make things happen. If you have regular customers, this goes a looong way to building a great relationship with them.

When you have a customer confident in your abilities, you can screw up (and you will) and they’ll be that much more forgiving because they know (A) It doesn’t typically happen from you, and (B) you’re going to fix it with (hopefully) minimal impact to them.

And let me rephrase what I said earlier about going out of your way to help a customer. You’re not actually “going out of your way”. “Going out of your way” means you’re doing something you didn’t have to do in the first place.

If you’re in the customer service, it’s your JOB to help customers. That’s why they’re talking to you in the first place. So do everyone a favor and ALWAYS perform your job better than anyone else. The customer will be thrilled and you’ll end up with a more satisfying day than you thought you’d ever had.

Lately the well has been a bit dry from reader submissions for the best and worst customer service stories. Which means I’ll be doing another shout out (as in right now) for all of you to keep sending in your stories! Remember Employees – you can send your customer stories too!

Which brings me to today’s post. No need to fret if you are jonesing for a crazy customer story. In fact, there are several – courtesy of AOL.com.

I’m sure many of you use/have read AOL’s online news at some point in your internet browsing life, particularly their Top 5, 10, 25 surveys they do all the time. I typically read their news briefs on a daily basis, and came across this wonderful listing of “customers from hell” that I wanted to share with all of you.

Enjoy!

AOL’s Customers From Hell…. (read more).

P.S.  Don’t forget to send in YOUR customer or customer service stories!

I came across two different articles focused on customer service I thought I’d share with you.

The first is an article in Newsfactor.com, regarding the need for better customer service during the poor economy. Of course, as you all know, I couldn’t agree with this more. One thing I found interesting the article points out: many companies rate their customer service higher than their customers do. Can we say there’s a disconnect somewhere? Check out the article here:

During this global economic crisis, the bottom line is this: Companies in all four regions surveyed need to sharpen their customer focus and invest more in this arena. Now is not the time to… (read more).

The next article is from USA Today and has to do with the airline industry and the recent survey results on their customer service. I found this to be interesting because of the factors involved they may have produced the more positive results. Take a look at the article here:

Despite extra fees for everything from luggage to lunch, passenger satisfaction with airlines went up for the first time in six years, according to a consumer survey released Tuesday.

The airline business scored… (read more).

Aretha Franklin said it best:

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

We all want it, but we don’t always get it. Especially in the world of customer service.

I’m sure many of you who work directly with customers have had your share of ungracious, ungrateful, and downright rude customers. It’s easy to want to turn around and give a little of that back to them. Heed my advice…

Don’t.

Always, ALWAYS treat your customers with respect. Even the ugly ones.

Treating someone with respect goes a long way in the customer service world. People remember how they are treated. Nobody wants to be treated like they don’t matter. As the saying goes: Treat others as you want to be treated.

So what does respect mean?

It means all the things we’ve been reviewing in Things You Should Do in Customer Service.

• Be polite

• Look the customer in the eye

• Smile

• Pay attention to what they’re saying

• Show them you care

• Don’t belittle them

• Don’t be rude

• Help them however you can

The list goes on….

What about the difficult and sometimes awful customers? Treat them as you would any other customer.

Trust me. I know it’s not always easy to put up with someone who’s being a complete jerk to you. Especially if they are yelling and cursing you out. (I’ve had that done to me too). In all situations, you can handle the customer with utter respect while still making sure you don’t have to put up with further abuse. Here are some tips on how to handle different types of difficult customers:

1. The Disgruntled Customer: This is the customer who is clearly not happy and wants you to know it. They will automatically pile their entire story of why they aren’t happy into your lap and expect you to not only take the blame, but clean up the mess.

What to do? You listen. Show empathy. Apologize. Repeat the problem back to them. Show them you understand and will take care of it for them. Let them know exactly what you are doing and then do it.

Nine times out of ten, once the customer knows you’ve taken control of the situation and are handling it, they will automatically calm down and appreciate you helping them.

2. The Bully: I’ve dealt with plenty of these types of customers. This is the customer who from the get-go has decided that the only way to get what he wants is to put you on the defensive immediately. Usually it’s because they’ve waited until the last minute to get something done, and now it’s your problem to get it done with little to no time to do it. These are the same people who will usually threaten to go to the competition or go over your head (or both) if you don’t fix their problem.

What do you do? Stay calm. Again – listen and get the facts. Make sure you know what the problem is. Tell the customer exactly what you are going to do, then do it. In these situations you usually have to pull a lot of resources in a short time to get things done. Do NOT make promises to the customer unless you are absolutely certain you can come through on them. Instead of making a promise you may not be able to keep, reassure them with phrases such as “I can’t promise you we will absolutely have this fixed until I can talk to the people I need to – but I CAN promise you I will do everything in my power to make it happen”.

3. The Screamer: This is the customer who just wants to yell and let you and everyone within earshot know they are unhappy.

What to do? Listen. Show empathy. Any response back to them should be in a calm, quiet voice. Apologize for their inconvenience and situation. Stay CALM. It’s easy to get rattled or angry when someone is yelling at you. Once the customer has had a chance to vent and gives you an opening to speak, take immediate control and let them know that you are there to help. Again, most of the time they just want someone to listen (hence the screaming). If they know you are going to fix the problem – especially in the way they want, they will simmer down and let you. And they will be even more ecstatic when you do fix it for them.

4. The Verbally Abusive Customer: This is probably the most difficult customer to deal with – and I fortunately only had to deal with a few during my years of customer service. This is the customer who is a combination all three customers discussed so far. They’re unhappy, they will bully you, blame you, scream at you – and unfortunately will either be cursing indirectly at you or will make a direct verbal attack on you.

What do you do? While you always want to maintain your cool and stay calm – and you should NEVER reciprocate in kind if a customer is behaving this way towards you – it does NOT give anyone the right to treat you this way. You do not have to stand there and put up with it.

There are two different methods you can take here.

• If you have a strong spine and feel you can handle customers in any situation, follow everything we’ve discussed as before. If the customer is being abusive, ask him politely – but firmly – to please refrain from speaking to you with foul language and/or verbal abuse. If he continues to do so, you have every right to inform the customer that while you want to help him, unless he is able to speak to you calmly you will have to hang up until he can do so. (Or in the situation you are face-to-face, you can ask him to leave). While it may seem counter-active tell a customer this, I have actually done so on more than one occasion. In those situations, the customer has always calmed down enough to talk to me civilly. The trick is getting them to understand you actually want to help them.

• If you are someone who doesn’t like confrontation or are simply uncomfortable dealing with this type of customer, then you should ask a manager to get involved. Managers are there for escalated situations, and an irate customer is indeed considered an escalated matter. There is no shame in asking for help if you need it.

In all my years of dealing with irate customers, both as an account coordinator and as a manager, I have never once had one come back and not thank me personally for my help in the end. Why? Because I treated them with respect and took them seriously – even if I felt they didn’t deserve it. I may not have always been able to give them exactly what they wanted, but the customers always knew I did everything in my power to help them out, and that’s all they were looking for in the long run.

Hopefully these kinds of difficult customers will be few and far between for you. And while it may not seem worth it to treat customers with respect when you aren’t getting it back from them, it’s the customers who DO treat you with respect that make the difference at the end of the day. And the more customers you treat well, the better you will be treated.

I promise.

You may have noticed I’ve recently been posting links to articles I find on customer service. There’s a reason for this. I’ve started searching more and more for articles on customer service just to see what’s out there. Are people talking about customer service? Do they care about customer service? Is there any good customer service left – or is it all just going downhill?

The answer to all those questions is “yes”. People are talking about customer service all over and in different ways. One of the things that stands out the most is that with the poor economy, I’m finding examples of two significant things happening in customer service: It’s either getting worse – or it’s getting better. There seems to be no middle ground.

Which leads me to the article I wanted to share with all of you. This particular one was written by Jennifer Leggio, who writes a blog called Social Business for ZDNet.com, and online tech news website.

What drew me to this particular article is Jennifer recounts her own personal experience with above-and-beyond service from The Marriott Hotel – where she happened to be staying when she sprained her ankle.

While I was impressed at the level of service that Jennifer received from The Marriott Hotel, it wasn’t that which caught my attention. What I was most impressed about was that Jennifer was so bowled over by the customer service she received, she took the time to write an entire article about it and share it with everyone – on a tech website no less!

That, my friends, is the level of customer service you should always be aspiring to. Always take your approach to customer service as one where you go above and beyond the call of duty at all times. It should be so ingrained into you and your employees  it is second nature – so that when a customer gushes to you how wonderful you are and you tell them “it’s no big deal” – it really IS no big deal to you because you do it every day.

But don’t just take my word for it. Take a look at the article here and see what I’m talking about. Maybe it will even give you some ideas of your own on what you can do to reach customer service excellence.

We talk a lot about all of the new approaches to customer loyalty and customer satisfaction surveys and using social media to listen to and better engage with customers. Yet a few weeks ago I was reminded about the most important facet of customer loyalty out there… (read more)