The Customer Authority

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I came across this article the other day from the Highlands Ranch Herald (Colorado) by writer Peter Jones. In it, Peter how using “extreme service” puts some businesses ahead of others and why.

Again; another example of why customer service excellence is so important in today’s world and how it can put you and your business ahead of the competition.

Read on for some great insight to customer service excellence:

When Tanya Licata quit her sales job to open her own Centennial-based insurance agency 18 months ago, she knew she would have to do something to survive the competition.

“If people don’t like and trust me, they’re not going to do business with me. They can do business over the Internet,” Licata reasoned. “I have to set myself apart and be different and show that I care about them, their kids and their dog. I want to know… (read more)

If you work in customer service, it’s inevitable you will have to deal with a customer who is upset. It’s the nature of the beast.

But if you have the right skills, you can turn that beast into a fluffy, purring kitten.

One of those skills is called empathy.

For those of you that may sometimes confuse empathy with sympathy, they are not the same thing.

Sympathy is not just understanding and identifying with another’s feelings, but you are also standing on their side with their feelings.

Empathy, on the other hand, is simply identifying, acknowledging, and understanding another’s feelings, but you are not necessarily agreeing those feelings are right or wrong.

In other words; you are putting yourself in their shoes.

Why is empathy important to show to a customer? For several reasons.

When a customer comes to you with a problem, especially if they are upset about said problem; they are generally looking for someone to acknowledge it and help them. They want someone who understands and will fix it for them.

If you come back to the customer with an attitude of “so what?” or “I don’t care”, you’ve already lost that customer’s chance at reason and possibly their business in general. Not to mention you’ll have a customer that will now become even more upset because you failed to empathize with their situation.

Think of it this way; when you’re upset and want to vent to your friends or family, would you want them looking at you with a blank stare that clearly states, “I don’t care”? Of course not.

Empathizing with a customer does not mean you’re agreeing with them. In fact, you may not even be able to help them in the way they want to be helped. But by simply saying you understand them, you hear their concerns and you want to help them however you can, then you’re giving them the empathy they need. This will in turn show them you care and you want to help.

Here are some examples of empathy statements:

“Wow, that’s a really tough situation sir. I’m sorry to hear that happened to you.”

“I’m sure that must have been very frustrating. I can understand your being so upset. Let’s see what I can do to help with your situation.”

“I completely understand how you feel inconvenienced. If something similar happened to me, I probably would be too. Let me see what I can do to help you.”

Never ignore a customer’s feelings. Simply empathizing with your customer can go a long way in gaining your customer’s trust and loyalty. And with that trust and loyalty means longevity in business.

Hey Folks!

I’m going out of town beginning Thursday, May 7 and won’t be back until Monday, May 11. Since I’m not going to be around a computer, I won’t be able to post as usual on Friday. But don’t worry – I’ll be back to write the next post on Monday (although it may be a bit later in the day).

Sorry for the inconvenience and thanks for understanding. See you back here on Monday!

Michelle

P.S. Keep up the great service!

Recently I keep hearing more and more about Zappos.com the online footwear and clothing outlet store. I’ve seen them from time to time when I search for shoes online – I think I may have even ordered from them in the past – but they’ve recently been in the news due to their huge growth in just the last few years. “Huge” as in a growing their gross merchandise sales from 1.6 million to over 1 billion – in just 8 years!

How did they do this, you ask? By focusing squarely on customer service.

Zappos has received enormous accolades for its bend-over-backwards approach to customer service. They offer everything from free shipping both ways, a 365 day return policy and a 24/7 call center to name a few. They have even been known to deliver a 4-day shipping item as next day – just to surprise their customers.

Who wouldn’t love all that?

I was reading a press release in PRWeb today about Parafest ’09 (Parature’s conference – the global leader in on-demand customer service software). What caught my eye was Zappos CEO, Tony Hsieh, was the keynote speaker for the worldwide conference  (see press release here). In his address, he focused on how his company focuses solely on the customer experience to retain customer loyalty, as well as building those core values and culture within the company itself.

Speaking of building core values and culture within the company – did you know their employees go through a paid 4-week customer loyalty training course? Did you also know Zappos offers their new employees $2000 to leave after they’ve received the training? – no questions asked? Incredible! The point being for this is to ensure their employees are there because they love the job, not just for the money. And if you wondered; only 3% of the new employees took the money and ran.

With dedication like that, it’s no wonder that Zappos has grown primarily through customer loyalty and word-of-mouth. It’s rarely heard of in this day and age that a company will go to such lengths to please its customers.

But it just goes to show that everything I’ve been talking about on this blog is true – you CAN grow your business by simply improving your customer service. And not just doing it in ways that everybody else does it – but by doing it even better.

Today’s post comes from one reader who currently works in the customer service industry and knows what it takes to give good customer service. The following is his opinion on why Regal Entertainment Group is one of the worst companies for customer service. Take a look and see if you agree:

My first job was at the concession stand of an 18-screen Regal theater

during high school and college. It was one of the most dehumanizing

experiences of my entire life. The customers are the rudest I’ve ever

encountered. I currently work at Target, where I may have to deal with

one or two rude people each week. At Regal, I had maybe a half dozen people

bite my head off every day. At first I thought it was their fault. But

what you must realize is that my Target and Regal are directly across the

street from one another, so both locations have basically the same

customers. My service certainly wasn’t any different; in fact, I’ve been

recognized by several Target customers as a former Regal employee, and

wasn’t treated rudely at all. That’s when I realized that the people to

whom I’d served popcorn in the past weren’t jerks; the fault was with

Regal.

The number of sales pitches the average customer receives at Regal borders

on harassment. Imagine walking into a theater, and immediately being

offered a Crown Card (Regal’s rewards program). In order to get this

card, you must fill out a page of paperwork. Then when you get to the box

office, you find out that the matinee now ends at 3 pm instead of 5, and you have

to pay an extra two dollars for your ticket. Then you’re asked to donate a

dollar to Stars of Hope, and asked a second time if you will be using a

Crown Card. Once you actually get to the lobby, it’s over, right? You

wish. You’re then approached and asked to donate to Stars of Hope

*again*, and when you finally get to the counter, you realize that everything costs

fifty cents more than it did six months ago *and* you’re nagged to buy a

combo that doesn’t actually save you any money unless you buy candy with

it. I bet you’d be pretty cranky. And all that crankiness gets directed

squarely at the folks behind the concession counter.

And that’s not all. While many companies seek to increase revenue through

great service, Regal’s policy seems to be, “Just make sure the teenagers

don’t screw up.” Consequently, the cash registers are set up in a way

that offers no flexibility to those operating them. Need a larger drink with

your kids’ meal? Sorry. Your popcorn was stale? We can’t give discounts

here. Want to exchange your unopened candy? Wait five minutes while I

get a manager to approve the transaction. And God help you if the poor kid’s

register freezes up, because there’s no way to sign on to another one.

You’ll have to wait for it to reboot or get in another line.

All this is obviously detrimental to customer service. Regal’s policies

make the customers miserable, and they in turn make the employees

miserable. I think you can see how this cycle goes.

To read more about Jim’s musing on life in general, visit his blog at Jimboroni.com

Do you agree that Regal has bad customer service? Have you ever had a bad customer experience at Regal? Tell us about it, or any other bad customer service you’ve received.

Today I came across an interesting article in The Miami Herald, written by Nirvi Shah. It was all about how South Florida is trying to change it’s reputation for poor customer service.

Considering tourism is No. 1 in that area of the country, it doesn’t seem like poor customer service has caused too much of a problem. But I liked this article because it drives home an important point about customer service: that poor service can impact both large upscale and smaller businesses from succeeding at the level they want to be.

But don’t take just my word for it. Take a look at the article and see what you think:

Seeking better customer service
South Florida is at the crossroads of ‘the customer is always right’ and `buyer beware.’

Ashley Reiser and her husband like the sunny South Florida weather and the international feel so much they have been regular visitors for 15 years.
But during their visit in January, they got a dose of something else the area is known for: bad customer service.

You’d think that leaving your phone number for a customer to call you back would be an automatic thing. At least I always did. But when I became a manager and had the opportunity to actually listen to associate’s calls, I was amazed at how many neglected to do this on a regular basis.

Some of you may be thinking, “What’s the big deal? I know they won’t need to talk to me again?” Or – “They’re not even my customer. I already have enough people to deal with!”

Guess what? You’re in the customer service business. Any and all customers are YOUR customers. And even if it’s not your responsibility to help them, it IS your responsibility to help them, because they’re now talking to you.

It goes back to the last post I wrote (Should the Customer’s Problem be Your Problem?) regarding “Accepting Responsibility”. If you’re unclear on that subject, I recommend you go back and read the post now.

In the meantime, here are some of the common reasons you want to always give the customer your number before they hang up:

• They might have forgotten to ask you something

• They might need more information

• They might lose the other numbers you gave to help them

• They like you better than the salesperson

• They like you better then their regular representative

• They know you will help them

Now, if customer calls you, it seems a no-brainer that they already have your number. However, while the call may have come directly to you, it’s possible the customer was transferred by someone else. The best thing to do in that case is to simply ask the customer, “You’ve got my number, correct?” – Then give it to them if they don’t.

By giving your number, you’re assuring them that you are there for them and their needs. It’s a simple reassurance that they have someone who knows them and knows their problem in case they need to seek further assistance. It helps ease the customer’s mind and reduces frustration when they know they don’t have to start all over again with someone new. Bottom line, it’s simply good service.

And if it turns out that you are the one who will be contacting the customer back, make sure you give them a specific time frame when you’ll be doing so. Whether you tell them you’ll be calling in one hour, three hours, at the end of the business day, or by tomorrow – it doesn’t matter. It’s important the customer have an idea of when you’re going to call back so they’re not sitting around wondering if you will ever call them back.

When you give them a time frame, be sure it’s reasonable and you stick to it. The worst thing you can do to in the eyes of the customer is not live up to the expectations you set for them. Even if you don’t have an answer for them, it’s important you still call them to at least give them an update on what you’ve done so far. And when you do – be sure to leave them your number.

Have you ever called up a customer service line with a major problem, only to have the customer service representative tell you; “I can’t help you with that.”? Or maybe you tried to return a defective item at the store, only to be told you had to deal with the manufacturer of the product.

Frustrating, isn’t it?

It truly flabbergasts me when a company either advocates having their representatives give these responses, or they do nothing to train them otherwise. I say advocates because who in their right mind wouldn’t try to help a customer?

One of the first rules in customer service is acknowledging a customer’s problem. The second rule that immediately follows that is to apologize for the problem. And the third rule that rounds everything out is to accept responsibility for fixing the problem.

Acknowledging the Problem

When a customer comes to you or your employee with a problem, the first thing you need to do is acknowledge the problem. Let them know you understand what they’ve told you. Ask them questions if you don’t understand or need more information. By simply acknowledging their situation, you’re demonstrating to them you want to help them and this automatically alleviates some of the frustration they may already be going through.

Make an Apology

When a customer has come to you because they have a problem, or something is broken, or someone didn’t show up – whatever the case may be – you should automatically offer them an apology for the inconvenience. I cannot stress this enough. You are not telling them it’s your fault; that’s not the point of the apology. But the bottom line is the customer’s life has been disrupted in some way and they are looking to you to fix it.

Many times, that’s the only thing the customer is looking for – someone to apologize to them. I can’t tell you how many times a customer actually thanked me because I took the time to simply apologize to them. It goes a long way in turning an upset customer into a reasonable and understanding one.

Accept Responsibility

Often-times customer representatives will do the first two steps, but leave out the crucial step of responsibility. Maybe it’s an automatic defensive response, they simply don’t want to be bothered with fixing a mess they didn’t cause, or they just don’t know what to do. In my opinion, there is NO excuse for not taking responsibility in helping a customer fix their problem.

All a customer wants when they come to you with a problem is for someone to fix it. You now have the power to take a frustrated, upset, and possibly irate customer and turn them back into a happy and potentially loyal one that will be praising you and your company’s name. It doesn’t even matter if you have no idea how to fix the problem. Someone always does. Even if it means you admit to the customer you’re not sure how to help them, as long as you tell them you will find out the answers for them and get back to them, it will go a long way in making that customer happy.

To give you an example of this, I once had a customer call me and immediately start yelling at me because his equipment hadn’t shown up to be installed and he was supposed to open his restaurant in 2 days. I was never even aware of the installation because the salesperson had never called it in to me. Instead of throwing the salesperson under the bus, I immediately apologized there had been a mix-up, took down all the customer’s information, and then told him exactly what steps I was going to take to try to fix the situation for him. His response was threaten to go to the competition with all eight of his stores if he didn’t get what he wanted. Not the most ideal situation.

I immediately contacted the salesperson, who admitted to dropping the ball, and got the rest of the information I needed to order equipment. I then contacted the local technicians and begged them to install the equipment the next day, even though I knew they were completely booked. (This is where it pays to build great relationships with your vendors). They agreed to do it, and with a little more begging with the shipping company, I was able to get everything set up and taken care of by the very next day.

The customer was so thrilled with my being able to help him get his equipment installed in such a quick turn-around, he not only thanked me, but offered me a job with his company (which I politely declined).

The point of the story is that if you follow these steps, regardless of how complicated the problem is or if it was your fault to begin with; if you take responsibility to fix it, you will boost yourself and the company in the eyes of that customer. Customers understand mistakes happen and are willing to forgive. What they won’t forgive, and certainly won’t forget, is if you do nothing.