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TRANSCRIPT
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5 Symptoms of Poor Customer Service and How-To Cure Them
byJeremiah Wilson, Founderand President
BADCUSTOMER SERVICE
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Bad Customer Service: The Silent Killer
5 Symptoms of Poor Customer Service and How-To Cure Them
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Contents
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................. 3
Part IThe Importance of Customer Service ............................................................................................. 4
Chapter One What is Legendary Customer Service? ......................................................................... 5
Chapter Two Customer Service Statistics .......................................................................................... 5
Chapter Three Behind the Numbers .................................................................................................. 8
Part IIThe Symptoms of Bad Customer Service: What NOT To Do ...................................................... 11
Chapter Four 5 Symptoms of Bad Customer Service ....................................................................... 12
Part IIICures: How-To Fix Your Customer Service Problems ................................................................. 14
Chapter Five Customer Service Cures (Strategies) for Management .............................................. 15
Chapter Six Dealing With Angry Customers ..................................................................................... 17
Chapter Seven Mark, Joan and Lisa ................................................................................................. 20
Chapter Eight Customer Service Cures: Step-by-Step Action Items ................................................ 23
Chapter Nine Start NOW .................................................................................................................. 25
About the Author ....................................................................................................................................... 26
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Introduction
A plague is sweeping the land.
It is spreading slowly, almost imperceptibly, but it is spreading.
Businesses all over America are slowly and quietly dying. The initial symptoms that led to their demise
snuck up on many of them. The pandemic began, perhaps, when one employee greeted a customer
N I B
consistently terse and short with customers. The situation became toxic. Isolated instances of bad
customer service mutated into habits. Habits quickly transformed into a culture of poor customer
service.
Now the entire business is infected.
This infected internal culture of poor customer service silently festered and worsened until it became a
reputation. That reputation repelled customers. It drove them away. Eventually the business died aslow, silent, but very painful death.
Sad story huh?
H ith our little apocalyptic tale: it could have been stopped. The symptoms could have
been treated before the disease of bad customer service became inoperable.
This story is common. Businesses that provide excellent customer service are surviving the recession
even thriving in itthose that are providing poor customer service (or even adequate customer service)
fade into the background, quietly perishing. They die a silent death, killed by their own bad customer
service.
What This Book Will Teach You
For a decadeContactPointhas recorded customer service interactions and trained businesses all over
the world. This has taught us a few things. Bad Customer Service: The Silent Killerwill do three things: 1)
argue that customer service should be a preeminent focus of your business, 2) discuss 5 symptoms of
poor customer service - your customer
service plague.
You will learn company-wide policies that engender better customer service, how-to deal with angry
customers, specific tactics for improving customer service performance, and everything in between.
Improving your customer service will fundamentally transform your business. It will make you more
money.
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PART I: The Importance of Customer Service
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Chapter OneWhat is Legendary Customer Service?
Customer service has several definitions T
whole story. The best way to define customer service is to provide examples of it.
Zappos.com, the largest online shoe retailer in the world, has gained market share and a reputation forexcellence because they provide a ridiculous level of customer service. Here are two famous customer
service legends from Zappos.com. These stories will frame everything else we say in Bad Customer
Service: The Silent Killer. This )-level of customer
service is the ideal. This is what your business should shoot
for. It does not matter if you sell to consumers (B to C), or to
other businesses (B to B) t you sell;
these Zappos stories should define and drive your goal.
1. Several years ago the CEO of Zappos, Tony, Hsieh,was meeting with some vendors from Skechers. One
of the vendors had a craving for a late night pizza
and suggested they should call Zappos customer
service for help. The group laughed. The CEO ) H that calling Zappos
customer service to ask about pizza was a great idea. Tony Hsieh was so confident in his
call and ask about pizza.
The vendor dialed the Zappos customer service line. The Zappos rep briefly and politely made
sure the caller knew he was calling Zappos, the I
After a very brief pause, the rep politely provided a list of five nearby pizza parlors that were still
open. She passed along her personal recommendation in a very professional manner, offered to
read the information over the phone, text it, or email itwhichever was best for the caller.
As you can imagine, everyone at the table was stunned. Everyone but Tony Hsieh.
2. H )"One of the craziest stories," said Jerry Tidmore, who manages Zappos' help-desk concierge
service, "was that a guest checked in to the Mandalay Bay hotel (in nearby Las Vegas) and forgot
her shoes."
According to Tidmore, the guest called Zappos, where she had originally purchased the shoes,
looking for a replacement, but they didn't have any in stock. So the company found a pair in the
right size at a local mall, bought them and delivered them to the hotel - all for free.
That is customer service.
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Chapter TwoCustomer Service Statistics
We train companies all over the world on customer service skills and strategies. We preach and teach,
rant and rave, discuss and demonstrate that customer service is king!
Businesses that master customer service and have a reputation for providing epic customer servicemake more money. Period.
And yet many times companies don't take customer service seriously. Here is a list of extremely
pertinent customer service facts and statistics that we hope will demonstrate the importance of
customer service. This data was collected through years of research and intensive studies...actually...we
Googled for about an hour to find most of this stuff, but still, it took some effort :)
It costs 4 to 5 times more to bring in a new customer, than it does to keep an existing one - LeeResources Inc.
86% of people say they've stopped doing business with a company because of just one badcustomer service experience (up from 69% in 2007) - Harris Interactive, Customer Experience
Impact Report
60% of consumers say they will pay more for a better customer service experience - HarrisInteractive, Customer Experience Impact Report
81% of companies that measure customer service are outperforming their competition -Peppers & Rogers Group
Out of best-in-class companies: 91% measure customer service -Aberdeen Group A dissatisfied customer will tell between 9 and 15 people about their experience - White House
Office of Consumer Affairs
For every customer complaint, there are 26 others who feel the same way but remain silent -Lee Resources, Inc.
91% of unhappy customers will not willingly do business with your organization again...ever -Lee Resources, Inc.
70% of Americans are willing to spend an average of 13% more with companies they believeprovided excellent customer service -American Express Global Customer Service Barometer
78% of consumers have 'bailed' somewhere in the buying process because of poor customerservice -American Express Global Customer Service Barometer
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59% of people will try a new company because they have 'heard' the company provides bettercustomer service -American Express Global Customer Service Barometer
Employees only ask for the customer's name 21% of the time (The person has a name 100% ofthe time) - ContactPoint Client Research
What do all these statistics show us?
They show us that customer service is among the most important things you can invest in. They show us
that bad customer service will slowly and silently kill your business.
Are you serving your customers well? You probably are.
Could you do better? Of course you could.
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So here's a thought: since it costs so much to get new customers, why don't you focus on
keeping the ones you have? It's much cheaper, it's easier and it's a better long-term strategy
than viewing customers as expendable. A
focus on customer service; they are viewing their customers as expendable and unimportant.
Remember this: engendering customer loyalty (through excellent customer service) is cheaperthan losing customers and trying to get new ones.
3) Losing Your CustomersWhether you want to admit it or not, your business makes mistakes. Maybe the quality of your
work wasn't great (just one time, of course). Perhaps, your billing was incorrect and your
customer was charged too much. Maybe, a job took too long, or there was something wrong
with a product you sold.
These things happen in every business. And statistics show all of these things are forgivable.
Your customer will forget about a billing issue, product quality issues and pretty mucheverything else you throw at them.
But, they will not forgive you for bad customer service. They will not forget how they were
treated. Bad customer service is the unpardonable sin.
86% of people say they've stopped doing business with a company because of justone bad customer service experience (up from 69% in 2007) - Harris Interactive,
Customer Experience Impact Report
Think about that! Almost 9 out of 10 customers will not return if they've had a bad customer
service experience. Wow!
What we want to figure out is this: why will a customer automatically leave you because of bad
customer service and not because of other mistakes your business may make?
Here is the answer: customer service is personal.
A billing dispute isn't personal. A missed appointment isn't personal. A dirty hotel room isn't
personal . Neither is a shoddy job.
But, bad customer service is VERY personal.
If your business treats a customer poorly, that customer will not forget it. They have been
personally offended.
That is why, 86% of the time, they won't return.
4) Customers Will Pay More (If You Treat Them Well)Of all the statistics on our list, this one may be the most interesting:
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60% of consumers say they will pay more for a product/service if they feel like theyare getting a better customer service experience. - Harris Interactive, Consumer
Experience Impact Report, 2011
This statistic is powerful for several reasons, here are three:
Many times we think that we need to drop our price or price match a competitor to get a
customer's business. This just isn't true. Dropping a price (or even quoting a price too quickly) is
a cop out. What we should focus on is providing the best customer service experience possible.
If we do that we can charge whatever we want! (Well, not whatever we want...but you know
what I mean :)
Customers will pay more money for something ON PURPOSE if the customer service is excellent.
They will seek out businesses that provide legendary customer service knowing that they will
end up paying more money. Think about this. Customers want to pay more money if they feel
they are being treated well. Let me say that again: customers are seeking to pay more money, if
(and this is a big 'if') they feel they are being treated well.
Customer service is THE most important part of your business.Many businesses spend a lot of
money worrying about their product quality, their advertising, their building, their systems and
their resources. And all of that is great...except...those are not the most important things to
your customer. Customer service is the most important thing to your customer. People want to
be treated well. They want a 'human' interaction. The quality of this interaction is more
important than your facility, than your price and even than your quality.
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PART IIThe Symptoms of Bad Customer Service: What NOT to Do
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Chapter Four5 Symptoms of Bad Customer Service
How will you know when your customer service is faltering? What are the signs and symptoms of this
silent killer? You must be able to recognize the symptoms if you want to diagnose bad customer service,
before it infects your entire team.
If someone recorded your customer interactions would they believe your goal is to get less business?
Would they think your goal is to tick-off your potential customers so thoroughly that they never want to
do business with you?
H s o watch out for. If providing bad customer service is your goal, here are 5 ways
to accomplish that goal.
1. Make sure the customer knows how busy you are when they call or visit. This is the first stepto really ticking your potential customer off and making them feel super dumb. You want to
absolutely ensure they know how big of a pain in the rear it is for you to talk to them. How dare
Y Y
with a new client right now! They need to hear the annoyance in your voice when they call. They
need to hear sighs and occasional irritated grunts.
2. Make sure your tone is very short, very terse and very mean sounding. This will absolutelyensure they know just how dumb they are for calling you and how busy you are. The tone of
T
dog that has wandered onto your lawn and defecated on your front porch.
3. Make sure you are an order-taker. Treat the potential client like a machine would treat them.D D
client is facing. Never, ever try and determine why they need called you. If they ask for a price
quot
would do). Then get off the phone. Remember: treat them like a computerized answering
system would treat themonly add a rude tone (see #2 above). That will make them feel really
bad! Do this, and you, sir, are one step closer to achieving your goal.
4. Make sure they feel unheard and unimportant . You need to demonstrate how little you careabout their needs. And how little you care about their business. You can do this by interrupting
them. You can do this by cutting them off when they are speaking. You can also do this by
A LOT T -important. The most important person in this interaction is YOU.
Talk all the time. You need to absolutely demonstrate how little you care about them or their
needs. And above all: DO NOT ask them a question. This is critical. If you start asking questions,
they may start liking you; or worse, they may actually think you care about them.
5. D D I could mistake your monosyllabic grunts for actually paying attention to them. Here are some
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T
I Tsands of employees at thousands of
businesses A
ask them a question, and they may feel like you care about them.
Unfortunately, if you listened to the thousands of customer phone callsContactPointhas recorded over
the years, you would (many times) think ticking-off a potential client and making them feel dumb was
the goal.
Even though, certainly, no business sets a goal to lose or upset potential clients; many times employee
behave as if that is the goal.
These 5 behaviors are symptoms. They are things to watch out for. If you see any of these five behaviors
seek a cure immediately.
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PART IIICures: How-To Fix Your Customer Service Problems
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A -the-
promotions and raises, while employees who occasionally waive a fee or lower a charge to satisfy a
customer, are punished. Policies like this do not encourage customer service. Policies that reward
employee rigidity do not engender customer loyalty.
Action Items: Creating Customer Service Policies Today
Empower Your Employees - Empower them to refund money if a customer Empower them to offer free services if a customer is upset, or to occasionally offer free
services, upgrades or products to perfectly satisfied customers. (You can bet this will engender
customer loyalty). Empower your employees to do anything necessary to make the customer
happy.
E C H-T P Standardize a way everyone in your company shouldgreet customers whether on the phone or in person. Somethi I H
I T W I
Win-Win Contract Require employees to sign a contract pledging to provide epic customerservice. This contract should spell out exactly what you expect and what they get in return.
(rewards, bonuses, etc.). This will show your employees how important customer service is to
your company.
A there should be negative consequences when employees
do not follow them and positive consequences when they do.
3) Customer Service TrainingY
refuse to teach them how to do their job. And yet many business owners, executives and managers
And then they fail to
provide those employees with any real customer service training.
Either those executives and managers customer service is important, or they just
assume their employees will figure it out.
You should implement a sales and customer service training program. Your employees need learn
how to provide legendary customer service. And they need to learn how to sell. Each time your
employees fail to treat a guest properly, schedule a return appointment, or sell a product, you lose
money.
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Chapter SixDealing With Angry Customers
Whether you have a storefront or a call center, a corporate office or a small business, you have angry
customers. Your frontline employees have to deal with angry customers on a daily basis. These are
customers who are upset. They M
voices and act impatient. In extreme situations they can become vulgar and demeaning.
What can you do?
What is your goal when this happens?
What is the best way to satisfy the customer and repair the situation?
Your ultimate goal is to provide great service that retains and attracts customers. If the dilemma is
resolved professionally and competently, the problem actually becomes a positive interaction. In fact,
when customers' criticisms are heard and promptly resolved, you will create a happier, more loyal
customer.
Very few things create a loyal customer more quickly than resolving a complaint effectively.
1) Work with Customers, Not Against ThemContactPointhas recorded and scored millions of minutes of customer interactions. We know
exactly what most employees say and do in these situations; but more importantly, we also know
what they should A A
to deal with upset customers.
The first step is to work with the customer, not against the customer. This is extremely important.
When customers complain, the natural reaction is to match their attitude or defend our position.
We want to defend our shop, T T
we can learn is to disconnect from the attack, criticism, dissatisfaction or anger. It is critical to
remember that a complaining customer is a customer who wants to be impressed. Customers will
stay with you longer when problems are solved. Loyalty comes when you prove your commitment to
customer satisfaction even when things go poorly. The biggest mistake we make is defending our
position. Don't defend your position! This will not solve the problem; it will simply escalate the
situation and make the customer more upset.
Remember: your goal is not to be right. It is not to win the argument and prove your point. If youare focused on being correct and winning a debate you will lose the customer forever.
2) Ask Questions and RestateThe best way to avoid defending yourself is to follow step two, which is to ask open-ended
questions. Try to understand exactly why the customer feels the way they do. Try to sincerely
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understand the issue. Repeat back what the customer says, keep breathing, stay calm and
acknowledge the issues.
3) Show EmpathyThere is a difference between empathy and sympathy. Empathy is sharing and understanding
another person's emotions and feelings. It basically involves "putting yourself in someone else's
shoes."
U I I Make sure
the customer hears you say, "I can see how difficult this is for you," or "I would feel the same way if I
were in your shoes."
Customers want and need reps to identify with their position. You don't have to apologize; just offer
understanding. If you have indeed been wrong, make every effort to let the customer know you are
sorry and also take accountability for the situation. If you did nothing wrong, it is wise to still take
full responsibility. Remember your goal: to keep the customer.
There is power in empathy. Put yourself in the customer's shoes and ask yourself how you would
like to be de I
frustrating situation. Empathy will allow you to relate to them, deal with them - not against them -
to solve the problem. This is a very important key to disarming their anger.
3) Avoid These Words and PhrasesEven if you have shown empathy, you may derail your efforts to diffuse the situation because of the
words you choose.
Never use phrases like, "It's our policy," "I can't," "I'm not allowed," or "But...," or, "That's true,
but..." Working with difficult customers is usually more about what you don't say than what you do
say. It may be against your policy to do what they want you to do, but when the customer hears
this, all they hear is " " You may not be allowed or able to do what they want,
but when you say, "I'm not allowed," you are essentially saying I won't help you. Instead, tell
customers what you can do and avoid saying things you can't do.
For instance, say something like, "Well, I understand I
L
4) Stay PositiveThis is critical. The encouraging are
demeaning or defensive.
Keep a positive and helpful attitude throughout the entire discussion. An optimistic approach will
pacify much of the contention. Your happy tone alone can calm an upset customer.
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5) Focus on What You Can Do, Not on What You Can't DoNever use phrases like, "I can't help you because our policy," or "I " You may not be
allowed or able to do what they want, but when you say, "I " you are essentially
saying "I " Instead, tell customers what you can do. For instance, you will be more
effective if you say, "W I " or "h " or "L what we can do to make this work for you."
By following these simple steps and communicating effectively with your customers, you can change
what could be a very bad situation with an irate customer, into something that will last a lifetime.
Upset to Loyal
If you follow these simple steps you can transform the outcome the next time you encounter a difficult
customer. These upset customers are the exception, not the rule. Learn to work with them and not
against them
Again, remember your goal: to provide great service that retains and attracts your customer.
Our experience atContactPointclearly shows that these steps work. And when you resolve an angry
customer's concern, you will build loyalty that lasts for years.
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2) Empathize Because you asked good questions Joan tells you the problem. She simply says your Y I
G I I .
What Not to Say to Lisa
Much like Mark, you should NOT argue with or justify to Lisa. These will sound like excuses. Do not
defend your employees, colleagues, or blame Lisa for the problem. Resist the overwhelming urge to
defend your business I Y
want you to be satisfied. What can
W M J L Y
not to be correct. This is not a debate. You want them to buy from you again.
And remember: handling a negative situation well, making an upset customer feel important, will build
loyalty faster than almost anything else.
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Chapter EightCustomer Service Cures: Step-by-Step Action Items
Customer service will differentiate you from the competition in any economic climate. However, right
now, that difference is more obvious. The recession has exposed the
companies that provide poor customer service and spotlighted those that provide legendary customer
service.
The difference between the customer service haves and have-nots is greater than ever.
An article in a 2009 issue ofBloomberg Businessweek I
has made starker the difference between companies that put customers first and those that sacrifice
loyalty for short-term gain. In this JD Pmore than half of the top 25 brands
[ranked by customer service] showed improved customer service scores from last year. Among the
Additional studies show that companies with high levels of customer service grow faster and make more
money than companies that have traditionally low customer service reputations or rankings.
The recession has made the customer service rich, richer; and the customer service poor, poorer. It has
made customer service more important than ever.
The Specifics: How-To Cure Your Customer Service
C nt. It will keep you from fading into the
background, becoming irrelevant and dying a silent death.
How do you begin improve your customer interactions right now?
1) Attitude This is the most important element of excellent customer service. Every executive,manager, and front- E
problem. You must personally follow the problem through to the end. You must realize that
helping your customer is your first job (even if your official title is teller, customer service
manager or janitor). Your job is to help your customer. Period.
2) ItIs Your JobI -line employee or a manager and somehow you get a call about IT A H
T
Wrong.
H I
quickly and efficiently as possible.
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3) F O C N CN I I W hing in stock, or if company policy prohibits you from doing something?
Focus on how you can help the customer. Get creative; make phone calls to business partners,
to your mom, even to competitorswhoever! Help them no matter what!
Remember this: you are not guaranteed to have everything in stock all the time, you are notguaranteed to be able to answer every question every time, but you are guaranteed to help the
customer all the time. Period.
4) Warm transfer vs. cold transferHave you ever called a company to explain a I M
M
again. And if that person still ca and the process of repetition
and explanation and frustration repeats itself.
That is a cold transfer.
A warm transfer goes like this: you call the company to explain a situation/problem. You explain
it and that re I M B
pushing transfer and forgetting you, this rep calls Mary herself, with you on the line, and
M
explain everything 47 times.
That is customer service.
5)
Employee Accountability and LearningMost workplaces in America have at least one or twoindifferent employees. T
legendary customer service. What can you do to fix that problem? Create a workplace culture of
learning and growing.
Sure, you can try gimmicks like parties and gift cards. That will work temporarily. But any morale
You must create a culture of learning (or pay
everybody a boatload more money).
You must provide opportunities for your employees to learn and grow. Provide training and
opportunities to practice customer service and sales skills, and hold them accountable for what
they learn.
Control What You Can Control
It costs 4 to 5 times more to bring in a new customer than it does to keep an existing one (remember
that stat) W customers Y C Y
Y Y
customers you have lost. You need to keep the ones you have.
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Chapter NineCustomer Service: Start NOW
At the outset we talked about Zappos. They provide legendary customer service. It is their focus and
their mission. And, their business has grown exponentially.
This quote from the Zappos W ownso quickly, and the answer is actually really simple... We've aligned the entire organization around one
mission: to provide the best customer service
you align your organization around one mission: to provide the best
customer service possible? Or, will you fade into obscurity? Will you allow bad customer service to
silently kill your business?
D of bad customer service to develop and infect your employees and your business.
Demand a culture of customer service. Re-enthrone customer service as the core value of your business.
Provide yourself and your team with the tools, the training and the motivation to provide legendarycustomer service. Y Y
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