The Death of Customer Service
Over the past 2 weeks I feel like I have been in the Customer Service Graveyard – the place where good customer service goes to die. Emails unanswered, then new promises sent of a better service; products cancelled, then credit card payments taken anyway; more promises made… I know I’m not the only one either because I am now in the unenviable position of having people ask me for advice and assistance with similar problems they’re having.
Anybody who follows me on Twitter will be wondering whether I am about to call-out a particular company for their poor customer service.
Oh, I know I was uncharacteristically angry the other night. If I had written this post then, it would have been a very different discourse altogether.
You were itching for a fight, weren’t you? Well, I’m not going to give it to you.
I’m not going to name names, partly because this is a new blog and I don’t want us to be accused of link baiting i.e. creating controversy just to raise our visitor numbers, but also because it wouldn’t be fair to focus on one online company as being guilty of poor customer service. The latest may have been a horror for me (and others) but they are by no means the only company I have had problems with this year. Emails and customer support tickets still remain unanswered from a number of well-established Internet Marketing sites.
I wonder how much respect, goodwill and PROFIT is lost through not nipping problems in the bud with swift and efficient responses to customer queries? Sometimes the simplest of answers is all that’s required to alleviate a customer’s worry, but without that answer the customer is going to worry some more, let that worry grow, and will eventually lead to anger about being ignored.
Poor customer service is not solely an online problem. Believe me, I know. I come from Plymouth, the city of the sullen shop assistant. When I get good customer service I expect a choir to appear and start singing the Hallelujah Chorus, it’s such a rare event!
I wonder if we customers aren’t partly to blame for poor customer service online. How many times have you kept a product even though you weren’t completely happy with it? How many times have you had poor customer service but just accepted it and decided not to kick up a fuss? And how many times have you stayed in a membership program, paying a monthly fee, in the hope that things will improve or your concerns will be answered?
I certainly have, especially in my early days online. Every time we don’t vote with our feet we are giving the company a reason NOT to up their customer service game.
And credit where credit’s due. Every time I experience good online customer service in the future I will be delighted to tell you all about it.
Feel free to include your own comments about good and bad customer service. Please don’t make this another forum to bitch and moan about individual companies you are unhappy with. Make it an opportunity to tell us what aspects of the customer experience are important to you, where companies are letting themselves down, and what solutions you can see to get them to raise their game.
I know what you’re talking about. I just got off the phone with a company with whom I have done business quite happily for the last 8 1/2 years. They were recently purchased and now their customer service is, to be kind, atrocious!
I bend over backwards in all three of my businesses to give customer service that people rave about to all their friends. I counsel all my clients to do the same. Otherwise, why be in business? I know it’s impossible to keep everyone happy all the time, but to not care about your customers at all is unforgivable.
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I totally agree with you about bad customer service something that we all experience on a regular basis. This applies to both the online world as well as offline. By providing good customer service, it puts you superior to your competition. I have to say that my excellent customer service is one of the things that my customers love about doing business with me. When you provide good customer service, it makes someone much more likely to refer you to a friend or colleague.
Without going into names, I can say that I have experienced such poor customer service that it prompted me whenever possible to switch providers, or companies that I do business with on a regular basis.
Are you willing to pay the price for not striving for excellence in your customer service?
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Allison, Barb and Lisa-
Huge congratulations on this awesome accomplishment! The SWBN is a great concept and I look forward to being part of it. I can’t agree with you more with regards to the death of customer service in pretty much any industry. I have had my own bouts with very, very poor customer servce issues most recently. I spent 8 hours on the phone one day with one companies National Customer Service Line only to be disconnect 10 times and to ultimately have my issue remain unresolved!
I have to say, my father-in-law calls me “take it back Tina” because I will not keep an item, stand for bad service or pay for something that is not what I wanted. Unfortunately, too many people do let these situations go on and consequently companies have no accountability.
As a consumers, we all need to be accountable ourselves also to let people know when things aren’t good AND when things are good. Feedback is the only way to companies [that care] can make changes.
I make a point to use Angies List here in the US to report on both good and bad services. If not anything else, it makes me feel better to have given feedback that others might be able to find useful.
Thanks for this post. All the best to you all!
Tina
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I wholeheartedly agree with the value of excellent customer service – it determines if you keep or lose a customer. I always try to give feedback on customer service – good and bad – when I can, and I always try to let the CSR know if his/her assistance went above and beyond to help me with my problem.
Lola
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I know of what you speak, and have followed! Though my own experience was first rate, I did hear many with the same complaint you have expressed.
I do agree that above all (other than good quality content/product)customer service should be the number one concern of ANY company. Things happen, true….and we must do our best to put ourselves in the shoes of our customers!
Good article, and I am looking forward to many good works from the three of you!
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Stealth guy here. . .
If you are having real problems getting resolution, check out http://www.consumerist.com/ they have a number of different strategies to drive to resolution. I especially like the executive email bomb strategy.
–Andrew
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Thanks Andrew (now renamed Stealth Guy). I’ll check it out.
These are great comments on the Customer Service issue and some really useful ideas.
I agree that good customer service can really “make” a company and have customers coming back again and again.
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I know the feeling…
A big issue is that customer service has no tangible measurement of value gains. It’s not a money-making “asset” in a business like Sales or Marketing might be.
Instead, it’s seen to be an expense or liability that should be slashed using automated “If ___, Press 1″ voice telephone systems and online support.
Augh!
But being on the other end of things – inside customer service myself – it’s often hard to keep up with customer demands – particularly in a rapidly growing business.
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Allison Reply:
November 6th, 2008 at 4:54 pm
I know the pain.
Most companies say they want to delight the customer, but it takes time for that delight to trickle down to tangible dollars.
Thing is a loyal customer is so much “cheaper” to maintain then trying to get a new one.
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Oooh Lisa, you are soooo right!
Customer Service seems to being going out the window, with the exception of stealer companies like Nobel Samurai.
It’s seems more and more Internet Marketers are focusing on the sale and forgetting that the “resale” comes from the excellent Customer Service.
Think how much easier it is to sell something to a customer that is already happy with your company, rather then trying to go out and find new customers.
If only these “top gurus” would learn this lesson..
Karen
http://www.parentinghelpme.com
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I wonder how this “Customer Service” people feel when they are treated the way they treat others… My guess is that don’t like it very much either.
Wimpy Witness
http://www.wimpywitness.com
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Back in my corporate days in the early ’90s, I worked for a company that indoctrinated employees about “wowing the customer.” Why, because they were good guys? Nope, because it made good business sense. I might have the numbers off a bit and it’s probably changed due to the reach of the Internet these days but the concept is sound – you see, customers will tell on average 15-20 other people about a bad customer service experience and tell just 3 about a good customer service experience. The message is – it costs a company a bucket load when delivering shoddy customer service. And we all know about the extra costs involved in getting a new customer vs. keeping an existing customer happy.
I’ve been working with the same hosting company for the past 10 years…for one reason…their outstanding customer service. There are less expensive hosts but when there’s a problem they deliver. For instance, a couple years ago a construction crew cut telecom lines to one of their data centers. Everyone who shared a server in that data center was down. They had minute to minute updates on their website, pictures of the CEO and president serving beverages to the work crew responsible for the repair (it was a hot summer day) and gave everyone who was affected two months of free hosting. The takeaway – stuff happens, but it’s how you handle the stuff that matters.
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Brent, you are definitely one of the companies that goes above and beyond with customer service (exactly the reason we happily added you to our blogroll straight away as a product and company we highly recommend). Market Samurai is a great product and you guys have been tireless in helping people.
Karen, Allison made an interesting point on our last mastermind call. She said that too many people (especially “gurus”) try to solve customer service issues with a new marketing tactic. They try to blind people from the issues they have had by offering something even bigger and better. When all people want is to have their question or worry answered satisfactorily.
They need to keep the 2 things separate. But by providing great customer service they are helping their marketing exponentially.
Thanks for all the great comments. Loving them.
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Susan Smith Reply:
November 6th, 2008 at 3:38 pm
I have to share a Market Samurai “WOW.” Let me precede this with a disclaimer that I’ve had *several* great Market Samurai customer service experiences, but this one’s a doozie. A couple weeks ago I received an email from NobleSamurai informing me that I had won a full version of the Market Samurai software from completing a survey that was part of a contest they ran (I never win anything). That was great (although secretly I wished it had been the lottery) but the problem was that I had already bought the software (because it was so incredible!!). So I promptly sent off an email to ask if I could give the software away since I had already purchased a licensed edition. Once I sent off the email, I resumed going through the rest of my other emails and, lo and behold, there was a credit minutes before for the Market Samurai software I had originally bought. Now, that doesn’t usually happen. Typically, a follow-up call is needed, a reminder…but not with these guys. They’ve got it right and have a very loyal customer.
Susan Smith had something to say about Happy Halloween – No Trick, A Treat
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Congratulations on starting off with a bang! I’m looking forward to all the great information offered here!
Wonderful post. Companies that ignore the power of good customer service do so at their own risk. A reputation can be undone quite quickly via word-of-mouth…especially when the message travels at the speed of light (social media anyone)? And once it’s out there, anyone doing research can access that feedback.
Good customer service will positively impact the bottom line!
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This is a great place to mastermind, participate, and execute ideas. Congratulations ladies!
Looking forward to being a part of this.
Customer service, being in sales and management for about 20-25 years, I have seen some interesting things. Having such a background as and entrepreneur has really allowed my company to be proactive rather than reactive as so many are. Being proactive is the key and all else will follow.
I think the most important thing as a poster earlier stated is that the tried and true saying, Do unto others and you would have them do unto you. We know how we want to be treated when we are consumers pass it forward. In reality we don’t need gimmicks.
All customers/clients/patients whatever you deem to call them want, is someone who cares enough to listen attentively and provide action expeditiously and courteously/professionally.
It can be done just believe, lol!
Good luck with your new adventure ladies.
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I wanted to share the excellent customer service I received yesterday while shopping for my Christmas tree. I went to the sheriff’s department County Farm, and got the best customer service I have had in a very long time, no trying to catch a sales assistant eye, no overly pushy assistance, just good old fashioned, quick, and pleasant service, it was a sheer delight.
It got me thinking when I arrived home, about what it says of customer service (both on and off the net) when the best service I have received comes from the inmates of the county jail. Perhaps part of it is that it must be a fantastic feeling to be out in the fresh air but mainly I think it’s the fact that they will be held accountable. I am not sure how the system works but I would imagine if they do not serve customers in an appropriate manner the privilege of the job will be removed. I think being held accountable is the way forward, receiving good service is the right of every customer and all businesses large or small should strive to always provide it.
Could I also share an example of “Nipping problems in the bud” while ordering our Coffee and Breakfast sandwiches the other morning, our coffee arrived but the sandwich order had not been put through. Now I am that person who doesn’t complain and settles for poor service (a trait I am working on changing) so I said that I was missing my food order, now I could have been that women who goes mad as we had already been waiting quite a while, but I don’t operate that way and as it turns out it was not required. Out of nowhere a representative of the company appeared and presented me with a gift card and apologized for the service I had received and thanked me for my patience. Talk about nipping potential problems in the bud, and I wasn’t even kicking up a fuss, how’s that for fantastic customer service.
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Lisa Reply:
December 8th, 2008 at 2:32 pm
Excellent examples. I believe we are all already held accountable for the service we give but many people ignore that fact.
Unfortunately, this weekend I had the opposite. Two different cafes, and poor service in each. There was just that lack of caring more than anything else.
Lisa
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A post on SWBN Blog about The Death of Customer Service {It is rare to get great CS so I added a comment on the Blog}http://is.gd/aH82
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Customer service is the backbone of any business. It’s true about mad people tell more people about crappy service and less people talk about good service. The upside is good word of mouth is almost a guaranteed new customer.
indie music marketing
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[...] often rave about the best and worst of Customer Service at the SWBN; with Market Samurai we can guarantee you exceptional customer [...]
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