Remember, Your Customers Need To Know Your Customer Service Expectations
by Keith Lee
I get a few phone calls each year from customers who think they are not getting Make-You-Happy Customer Service from us. Almost all of these calls start with, “I read in your newsletter that customer service is important to you, and I just wanted you to know…” or “A few months ago when I was on hold I heard that you wanted me to call you if I had a problem that wasn’t being taken care of.”
Sure, nobody likes getting calls like this, but in another way I LOVE GETTING THEM!
What’s the alternative? For most businesses it’s a customer who really doesn’t want the hassle of complaining. A customer who doesn’t care enough about you to say anything. The customer who goes to the competition and not only doesn’t recommend you to others, but maybe even bad mouths you. I love customers who give us the opportunity to MAKE THEM HAPPY.
Another thing you need to be sure to understand is that even though I consistently and persistently tell my clients over and over again to call us if they are ever disappointed and call ME if they are still not happy, just about every one of the people who call me to tell me that we’ve failed them, apologizes for calling. That’s critical to understand. You can’t just say this once and expect them to actually let you know when they’re disappointed; you need to tell them over and over and over again.
Find as many ways as you can to tell your customers that you want to know if they are not happy.
I stole an idea from Stu Leonard’s Dairy (which is a supermarket) in Connecticut. He has a big sign with his picture that says, “What do you like? What don’t you like? I’d like to know!” Every invoice we send out at American Retail Supply has a flyer that asks the same questions Stu Leonard asks: What do you like? What don’t you like? I’d like to know! While it is redundant to send it out with every invoice, we do. I want to be sure that every customer knows that they should expect Make-You-Happy Customer Service and that I want to know if they don’t get it.
But then, if you’re going to ask for input from customers, you need to act when you get it. Every customer who writes to us at American Retail Supply, whether it’s a good comment or a complaint, gets a response.
Again, every chance you have, tell your customer you want to hear from them if they’re not totally happy. Tell them when they are on hold. Tell them with signs in your store. Tell them in your advertising. Tell them any way you can think of.
Of course another reason you want to ask for those complaints is so you can fix the things that went wrong in the first place…
But there’s yet another great reason. Your team members aren’t likely to forget your customer service expectations when they know that your customers know them and that you want your customers to tell you when they don’t get exceptional customer service.
Click here to see more about how we meet and exceed customer service expectations in our businesses.
