Archive for Customer Service
Why Am I Losing Clients?
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In today’s tough economic climate, many small business owners and entrepreneurs face an uphill struggle trying to keep their business afloat. It’s all too easy to blame the loss of clients or declining sales figures on the state of the economy; however, there are often other more basic reasons which we tend to overlook in these situations.
Yes, it’s difficult to find clients and even harder to keep existing ones; you’re faced with competitors who slash their prices and desperate businesses who are willing to resort to all types of sleazy tactics to keep afloat. Sometimes, you have to look beyond this mayhem and go back to basics by reviewing the core essence of what your business is about. Let’s take a look at a couple of areas which may be to blame for the loss of clients and business:
Don’t Ignore Customer Complaints
When you’re bogged down in paperwork it’s easy to lose track of basic everyday issues such as dealing with customer complaints.
It’s possible that some clients who receive poor service will simply “defect” and go elsewhere; however, most will try to bring their issues to your attention in the form of a complaint. This is where things start to go wrong as these complaints are ignored or often badly handled; guess what? You’ve just lost a customer!
Use these “opportunities” to analyse your internal systems for handling customer complaints. You need to listen to complaints and determine whether they are justified or not; if it’s the former, you’ll have to analyse the situation and introduce changes to ensure that such complaints are avoided – or at least reduced – in the future.
Don’t forget that a big part of successful customer complaint handling is to make sure your employees are adequately trained in how to handle customer complaints. It’s not rocket science and if you follow 5 basic tips (see link), you and your team will be able to handle the most difficult of customer complaints.
Make Sure Service Levels Live Up to Customer Expectations
This relates closely to the above point on customer complaint handling; if you’ve set certain expectations – through marketing, branding, advertising, PR – but your customer experience is not aligned with these expectations, you’ve got a problem.
Before spending money on expensive marketing, make sure you understand your target market and you’re company’s limitations. It’s much better to offer less services or product features and be able to deliver excellent service than to promise the world and only deliver on part of that promise; all that will lead to is negative word of mouth, customer complaints and ultimately, loss of customers and business.
These two tips may seem simple and obvious to many; however, when was the last time you took a good look at the customer complaints you receive? Have you made sure your customer expectations are being met by aligning your products and services to these expectations?
I’d love to hear your thoughts…feel free to comment below 
Photo Credit: Latente
5 Key Steps to Dealing With Customer Complaints
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All businesses have to deal with customer complaints, it goes with the territory! It’s not the most pleasant of situations but it is something that we all have to face at some point.
How many times have you been faced with a situation when a customer is angry and upset with the service they have received and are demanding an explanation, an apology or, god forbid, some form of compensation! I’ve worked in hospitality for most of my working life and have had my fair share of customer complaints to deal with. Luckily for me, one of my first bosses was a great believer in staff training and introduced us to a very simple but effective 5 step process to deal with customer complaints.
These principles are ideal for training new staff members who have to deal with customers on a daily basis; however, it’s also useful for service veterans who are sometimes guilty of forgetting the basics of handling customer complaints effectively.
So without further a-do, here are the 5 steps to effectively handling customer complaints:
1) Listen
Yes, Listen; simple, but very important. You must remember that people who actually take the time to complain are feeling very emotional. Our first objective is to deal with these negative emotions before actually dealing with the complaint itself. Let the person say what they have to say and let off steam; don’t even think about interrupting them!
By taking the time to listen to the complaint you’re demonstrating that their problem is taken seriously and that you understand their frustration. If you listen to the whole story, you reduce the risk of misinterpreting the situation and making matters worse.
2) Sympathise
The customer’s complaint isn’t directed at you, even though it might seem like it. Make sure you don’t take things personally or you’ll just make matters worse.
Your customer isn’t interested in the how’s and why’s of a problem; they just want it fixed! Don’t make excuses. Be sympathetic and you’ll be diffusing the customer’s anger from the very beginning.
3) Ask the Right Questions
Once you’ve managed to calm down the customer, you need to find out the root of the problem. You’ve dealt with the emotions – often the hardest part – but now you have to ask questions and establish the facts of the complaint.
Be careful how you word your questions; asking open ended questions will help to get the customer talking more freely. Try starting questions with How? What? and When? Customers must see that they stand to benefit from answering your questions; the last thing you want is for them to think you’re trying to catch them out and blame them for the problem.
4) Agree a Course of Action
You’re customer is now calm and you’ve found out the route of the problem, now comes the difficult part: What to do about the problem!
First of all, make sure you offer your customer alternative solutions; this is pure psychology. By giving them at least two options, they feel more involved in the outcome. Often, your options will be restricted but if you use phrases like “What if…?” and “How about….?” you make it sound like you are offering them a customised solution.
One key point to remember: Never make a promise that you can’t keep. You’ll just make matters much worse.
5) Make Sure It’s Carried Out
Once you and the customer have agreed a course of action, you cannot leave it at that. You must take ownership of the situation and ensure that what you have agreed is actually carried out. In a larger organisation that might mean involving more team members; however, the ultimate responsibility must lie with you.
So there you have it, 5 simple but highly effective steps for diffusing even the most delicate of customer complaints. Try them out and see how easy it can be to turn a potentially negative experience for your customer into a positive one.
Photo Credit : angusf
I’m Taking My Business Elsewhere!
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I’ve just got back from a rather disappointing shopping trip. My task today was to find a new adaptor for my laptop – should have been simple enough – however, another less than satisfactory Customer Service Experience left me realising how easy it is for a business to lose a customer.
Let me explain: I live in Spain – a country which is not known for excelling in Customer Care! – I decided to go to a well know store which specialises in electrical appliances; usually good value for money and OK service. I went straight to the computer department and decided to ask a young guy – who I thought was an attendant – where I could find the adaptors. It turns out that he actually worked in the warehouse and was just replacing some items. Now, he could easily have told me that he couldn’t help me and that I should find a customer service representative; however, I was pleasantly surprised when he proceeded to escort me and find someone who could help me. Read More→
Engage Every Customer – One Touchpoint at a Time
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Engage Every Customer – One Touchpoint at a Time
By Bryan K Williams
Engaging your customers is not rocket science. With all of the articles, books, blogs, videos and conferences that are available, it can seem that creating an engaging service experience requires a lifetime worth of training. Not true. If you asked me, “how can we improve our service tomorrow?”, I would advise you to begin with your touchpoints. I’m sure that you have heard this word before, but I’ll go ahead and define it anyway. Read More→
The importance of a Customer Relationship Management System (CRM)
Posted by: | CommentsThe general focal point of business has been the product itself and the belief that a good product would always sell. That is now changing and business is taking a new approach – Customer Relationship Management (CRM) – switching the main focus from the product to the customer. If you have the product a customer wants and offer the service they require at the correct price then they will buy from you. Read More→
Four Steps To Help You Cope With a Difficult Client
Posted by: | CommentsIt happens to every business owner at some point in time and chances are, it’ll happen more than once. You have to cope with a difficult client. It can be an extremely frustrating and upsetting experience. It can also be a positive experience – really! Here’s how to take charge of the situation and cope with a difficult client.
Step One. Determine why your client is unhappy or what is causing them to be difficult. Read More→
Why your Hiring Policy is Vital in Providing Excellent Customer Service
Posted by: | CommentsFew would argue at the statement that “the key to exceptional customer service is in your staff”. Obviously, your front-line staff — those that have direct contact with your clients — are of vital importance, however, you musn’t forget the rest of the team that provide support and backup to the front-line. Administration, Accounts, HR — these teams are often behind the scenes but play a large role in ensuring that your customers receive world class service. Read More→
How To Keep Your Customers By Providing a Superior Customer Experience
Posted by: | CommentsIt’s a tough old world out there and starting a business or simply staying in business is getting more and more difficult every day. There is a lot of competition and businesses are having a hard time trying to differentiate themselves from the competition. There is, however, one thing which will keep your customers coming back again and again – a valuable customer experience. The customer experience you provide begins and ends with spectacular customer service. Read More→