All posts in Customer Service

It is an expression you hear a lot in the customer service industry saying that your customer is always right. However I think most people don’t quite grasp the true meaning of it, it was lost in translation.

Is The Customer Always Technically Right?

The short answer here is no. The customer could be right, they might be mistaken, you might be mistaken, you might be right. Either way I am sure if you mention stories about customer complaints to anyone you will be giving a heated account of why the other person was wrong.

But does it matter – no!

Should The Customer Be Made To Always Feel Right?

Short answer, yes. They are a few exceptions if the person is generally out to fraud or scam you, but in 99.9% of cases they should. They have come to your business and received (in their eyes) a bad experience and you must fix it if you want their and their friends business again. You can’t argue with their experience, they are 100% correct on that, you have failed them somewhere. Regardless of what they are actually complaining about, most of the time it isn’t the real cause.

What Do You Do?

1. Swallow your pride. They aren’t attacking you, just their experience.
2. Apologize that they had a bad experience (not sorry, sorry is your emotional state)
3. Ask or suggest ways you can fix that experience. (replacement, free item, gift card, discount, refund, sometimes the apology is enough)
4. Implement systems to make certain it doesn’t happen again. Even if the customer was wrong, there was something wrong in your systems that caused a bad experience for someone. Maybe you just didn’t give the right expectations in product or service descriptions.
5. If appropriate, tell them of what you plan to do to fix the situation for future customers. This solidifies that the customer has been validated in their complaint and you have done your best to fix the situation.

An example is when I went to a take away restaurant (one I frequent often, Nando’s). I ordered a dip with my meal yet the person on the counter didn’t hear it and hence didn’t process it with my order. When I asked about it they showed it wasn’t on the order and I thought fair enough I will just pay for it. Yet they don’t accept payments of under $10 on eftpos, which is all I had on me. So what did they do? Just gave it to me for free. And the first thing I did when I got in the car was tell my wife about it. A small thing that will ensure I frequent the place in the future. And now I wrote about it online as well.

Cost to them, probably far less than 1 dollar and the result is a positive review on a blog and a customer that will go back there, time and time again. I think that is a win-win all around.

Whenever I ask this question at one of my workshops – “What is the difference between ordinary service and extraordinary service?”- one of the answers I usually receive is “going the extra mile”.

Well I’d like to let you in a little secret – you don’t have to go the extra mile, not even half a mile to give extraordinary service.

It’s all about the little “extra” that you add. The 1% factor as some experts call it. The amazing thing is that this little extra does not have to take much effort at all, just a little bit of courtesy and thoughtfulness.

So, I hear you say – what are some little extras that I could add to my product or service delivery?

If you have a walk in business with a public area, how about a display of flowers on the counter to convey attention to detail, or an aromatherapy candle lit to create ambience?

You could greet your customer as soon as they walk in the door with reassuring eye contact and a welcoming smile.

When your customers call on the phone, what about making a point of always picking up a pen and paper and smiling before you pick up the phone? They will feel that you really do care about them and because you are taking notes, you won’t annoy them by asking them to repeat important details they have already given you, such as their name.

Have you ever thought about how delighted your customers would feel if you thanked them for their business at the end of each call?

Your customers are probably used to ordinary service from all the other companies they deal with like the banks, insurance companies, telephone companies and so on…. imagine how they would feel if you gave that little extra every time they dealt with you, turning them from satisfied customers into RAVING FANS.

We all use cell phones and let’s face it, would be very difficult to run our business properly without one.

The first commercially available cell phone was released in 1983, making them a very recent invention. In the year 1990, 12.4 million people worldwide had one. By the end of 2009, less than 20 years later, the number of cell phones worldwide reached approximately 4.6 billion, 370 times the 1990 number, penetrating the developing economies.

Do you remember how life used to be without cell phones?
We used to write letters and make phone calls and if we weren’t there when someone tried to call us, they would either leave a message for us or call again.

As cell phones have evolved and exploded in popularity in such a short amount of time, there are some rules that we need to follow so that we are using them politely and not inadvertently offending any of our customers.

• Watch your ring tone – Your taste in techno ring tones may not be your client’s taste. Try to choose something that is socially acceptable, like a classic ring tone.

• Be aware of who is around you – When you are using your cell phone at a customer’s site, always speak professionally, no matter who it is that you are speaking with. You never know who can hear you and your manner many reflect on your business.

• Send the call to voicemail if in company – Never accept a cell phone call while you are talking with a customer, unless it is a family emergency. If you are expecting an important call, it can be acceptable to warn the customer beforehand that you may have to take an urgent call – but keep it brief and offer to call them back if it becomes prolonged.

• Always answer professionally – Answer politely as if you are taking the call in your office. A nice welcoming greeting is “Welcome to xyz company, this is John.”

• Watch your voice tone, speak softly – We often hear people raise their voice when they speak on cell phones. If you are in a noisy environment and are concerned the caller cannot hear you, cup your hands around the mouthpiece to provide a simple noise filter.

• SMS can be inappropriate in business – Always call unless you have an agreement with your client that sms is OK.

• Do not SMS when driving – statistics show that there is a 26% higher chance of having an accident if we are texting and driving at the same time.

Follow these simple tips and you being able to run your business on the go, while keep all your customers satisfied.

If you have ever called a home based business such as an electrician or plumber and been on the receiving end of bad phone manners, you are not alone.

Many people go in to business because they are very good at their trade, but what they don’t consider is what their customers may be experiencing when they call to try to get help.

With the number of people who work from home, we know that it can be a very smart and cost-effective way to run a small business. If you chose to go down this path, it’s crucial to your customer attraction and retention that you get your phone etiquette skills up to scratch.

Remember, the caller cannot see you and if your marketing material and image looks professional they may imagine that they are calling a company that has a professional receptionist. When they are greeted by a child answering the phone or an impatient spouse, it can be very off-putting. They are just as likely to be turned off and call another company.

That means all your costly marketing efforts to get that potential customer to call you in the first place have gone down the drain. And consider how many people have may tell. Research shows that a dissatisfied customer will tell up to 20 people, and with the increasing popularity of social media this could escalate to hundreds, thousands or even millions of people with the click of a mouse.

Can you afford to lose customers when there is such an easy solution?

3 top tips to portraying your professional image over the phone are:

Tip # 1: Answer the Phone Timely
Studies show that 2 out of 3 home based business owners don’t answer the phone in a timely fashion. Not answering early enough means that a lot of potential clients are slipping through the cracks and finding your competitors instead! Ideally you should pick up the phone after 3 rings. Too early and the caller may not quite be prepared, too late and they will start to get impatient, which doesn’t make for a healthy start to the conversation. If you can’t always pick up the phone after 3 rings, you have 3 options:
a/ Have the calls forwarded to your cell phone – making sure to have a professional voicemail message, recorded in your own voice.
b/ Have the calls forwarded to a professionally sounding message after 3 rings.
c/ Use a call answering service so that the call is always picked up, and your potential customer always gets a professional person to speak with.

Tip # 2: Answer the Phone Professionally
Make sure whoever answers the phone in your home has the right skills and the right attitude to answer the phone in a professional manner. To the caller, they ARE the business and the manner in which they answer the phone will reflect on your business. Do you want your callers to think that you are lazy, rude, impatient…? These are all images that can easily be portrayed over the phone and will extend beyond the person answering the phone – to YOUR business.

Tip # 3: Have a Professional Message
If your calls are answered by a voice mail message when you are out, make sure the greeting is professional and tailored to the business. “You’ve called Matt, Barbara, Timmy, Chip and Mel, we’re all out, leave a message…beep!” – whilst it’s fine for your home number, doesn’t quite cut it for a professional business image.

While it is a tough market for local services with many uncontrollable variables impacting your business success, by having the best phone skills in town, your business will easily and quickly start to flourish through word of mouth and repeat business.