Last year, in a rush of blood to the head, I signed up to change energy suppliers. Our gas moved to the new supplier within weeks, but six months later, I was still wrangling with customer service to get the power transferred (and start saving the money which had motivated the shift in the first place). I’d spent over three hours navigating through their phone menu, to get to the right department – and then to speak with someone who had the authority to actually do something about the problem. Will I be looking at other options when my contract expires? You betcha.
How many businesses hide from their customers like this?
And in the process, build a wall of frustration which can only generate bad word of mouth and minimise the likelihood of repeat business? Is your business guilty of:
- Making it impossible for online customers to speak to a real person if they have a question or problem? You can achieve this by not publishing a contact number – or hiding it so effectively on your website it might as well not be there.
- Using complex and time consuming menu options on your phone system (and don’t get me started on voice recognition software!)
- Not giving front line staff the authority to handle problems immediately
- Employing customer service staff who have little or no product knowledge – and not training them
- Not acknowledging contact via the web immediately (either by automated email confirmation or personal email or phone response) – and then taking days to respond to the actual request.
If customers need attention and one-to-one assistance, they will keep looking until they get it.
In 2012, consumers have massive choice for almost all products. For some purchases, they don’t need customer service – they’ll be happy to rely on technology to do the work (buying eBooks is a classic example). But for most businesses, it’s a big mistake to keep your customers at arm’s length. Cuddle up – you might just find they return the love.
