Is Customer Service Ancient History?

Possibly you’ve suffered this yourself. The sales assistant who glares at your face almost as if they consider as a distraction to the very important phone conversation they’re enjoying together with their good friend. The type of check out fellow who asks mechanically, “Hi how are you” in a bored voice, face down, shoulder blades stooped, appearing like their face will collapse without warning at any time. A waitress who gets upset or even agitated when you ask if an important ingredient happened to be in the meal that you’re interested in.

Have you detected the lack of this too? Could it be still there? Is it possible we have now just settled for “weak customer service” as standard?

Likely I am just considerably more acutely sensitive to this than most. The majority of my career in IT has been in customer service of some description in one way or another – from IT help desk through to Account Management and even Business Development Management. So it is a topic that’s “right up there” for me, and I hope constantly will be.

It’s The Ordinary Things

[Delivering great customer service doesn't have to be rocket science. You may discover it can be as easyas remembering your customer's name...  sending a "thank-you!" note... listening attentively to their complaint without interrupting them. Decide upon the kinds of "above and beyond" customer service behaviours you want to adopt see across your business, and take measures to train your staff accordingly.]

So why do we hear a growing quantity of complaints from the general public, across the board?

Well, I believe a substantial factor in the decline of Customer Service can be credited to company leaders just not seeing the value that it may bring their organisation. A person could argue that it’s got more to do with management – business leaders – choosing not to make this as a priority in their organisations, than it is about the workers! Until upper management begin prioritising “customer service”, highly likely to~it’s unlikely we’ll~we’re not highly likely to} see any considerable change throughout the rank-and-file.

“Call Us – We Are Only A Country Away!”

Take offshore outsourcing, as one example. When you call with a problem or dilemma about your mobile phone bill. Do you find that you’re handled as a highly valued customer? Do you really feel heard? Maybe you get the overpowering feeling you’re simply just a number, another person who has to be “treated” in accordance with a script… and rushed off the phone to fulfill some internal statistic? The issue would be that the company who chose to outsource “customer service” was influenced solely by the business earnings. Now, as a business, there is certainly no doubt that monetary discounts are very important – yet what’s the actual expense of a choice like this?

How Much Can Weak Customer Service Really Cost?

Angry clients. Unhappy customers. Clients who dread needing to call, since they “know” they’ll get the run-around and have to explain themselves again and again. Customers who tell 18 friends about their poor experience. Customers who under no circumstances suggest their contacts to the company. Clients who write blogs, post negative responses on Facebook & Twitter. Bottom line – fewer clients… active clients who can’t be “up-sold” or “cross-sold” to new services or goods… and a boost in cancellation / unsubscribe volumes. In essence, you get  a business where you have to work two times as difficult to obtain new customers – and continue to keep obtaining brand new customers – in order to constantly gain more customers than you shed each week. And that is simply madness. Any legit business or marketing pro worthy of their sky-high rates will explain that it costs anywhere from 5-9 times as much to sell to a new client, than it does to market to a current customer.

So let’s say you were only equipped with this most base piece of infowouldn’t you do everything within your power to always keep your clients satisfied, loyal, wanting more of what you offer, and willing to tell their friends about your business? And wouldn’t that be really worth the investment in superior Customer Service? In the old times, an unhappy customer would tell their closest friends. Perhaps over lunchtime, or in a phone conversation or 2.

These days, one negative encounter may be instantly discussed with the world. YouTube. Facebook. Twitter. Forums. Web sites designed precisely for complaints to be lodged!

The days of “any publicity is good publicity”  are well and truly over. What this means is that almost everyone who hears and believes the complainer becomes one more person who won’t be upsold, cross-sold, resold or sold for the first time. And of course, the complainer is un{likely to buy again!}! The customer who complains is not really likely to buy again, and you will have messed up an immeasurable quantity of brand new customers (money!) during the process.

“Tell Me Why Should I Care?”

Unfortunately, up to the point companies wake up to the worth of customer service – appreciate that customer service (and technical support, for similar reasons) doesn’t have to be a “cost centre”, but can in fact be a “profit centre” when managed effectively – the employees of those firms will likely not get the message. Of course if the staff members don’t get this directive from their leaders, and they are not measured or motivated to supply superior (or merely “reasonable”!) customer service, they are not going to offer it. Today, customer service appears to be at the end of the priority checklist of the majority of businesses. Anyway, that has been my past experience, with very few exceptions. So is customer service deceased? I would say no. You’ll find it still with us, but it is on the way out.

Truth is, unless “customer service” turns into a measurable metric – a part of a person’s KPI reporting – odds are we are going to carry on seeing the similar poor customer service that we are experiencing today. Since of course, where is the motivation for staff to change their approach? Why would they create additional work for themselves?

Some Ways To Capitalise On This

The reverse side is however if you are some sort of company proprietor, you then have a fantastic opportunity. A silver lining, if you will. And the opportunity is this: Take care of your customers well. Listen to them. Take care of them with consideration as well as value. Go the extra mile. Do what you say you will do, without defense. Keep connection with them so they don’t have to follow you up you or your company. Simply do these types of straightforward things, and you will place your corporation so very far above your competitors, that I might almost assure you will see an increase in your revenues within 90 to 365 days.

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