Lately, I’ve been monitoring my customer service experiences with the businesses I do business with a little more closely than usual.
I’ve made numerous calls to airlines, mobile phone carriers, electronics companies, and more. I’ve found that people are typically friendly and do their best to support me.
To clear my conscience, I admit that my recent call to my cable provider was tense because of my frustration with a faulty router; however, that brief conversation was my fault, not theirs. I was obviously upset with the product, yet the employee remained calm and did everything she could to resolve the issue. In that case, she gets an A for effort, attitude, and knowledge.
I find that when it comes to customer service issues, it’s not the people causing problems; it’s the system.
I hear so many people complaining about customer service; however, in many cases, it’s not the people. It’s the system. Some of the reasons customers complain about customer service or experience due to broken or poorly created systems are:
• Hard-to-find contact information
for customer support.
While most websites provide information about customer support, sometimes it’s not clearly visible. When a customer wants to contact you, don’t add to their frustration by making it difficult.
• Inability to connect with someone
from customer support.
Some companies are still betting that a 100 per cent AI-fueled self-service option can replace live interactions. In almost every case, these companies are wrong!
• Self-service options are not provided.
Just as some companies make the error of going ‘all in’ on digital self-service support, some businesses don’t provide any self-service options. Some customers demand the option; otherwise, they will choose to do business elsewhere.
• Self-service options are provided, but don’t offer a solution.
While this alone can be frustrating, imagine if the self-service is not working and the company makes it difficult or impossible to connect to a live person. This is adding fuel to the fire.
• Long wait or hold times without the option of a call-back.
In this day and age, it is very inexpensive to add a feature that informs the customer how long their hold time will be, with an option to return a call when it’s their turn.
• Even if you bother to leave a message, nobody returns the call.
If one option for customer support is to leave a message, the expectation is that the company will respond. And, I’ll add that it should be done in a timely manner. Many businesses are falling short of this humble benchmark.
• Staff are poorly trained in service.
One might argue that poorly trained staff are a ‘people problem’ and not a system problem; however, I disagree.
A lack of training or poor hires is a function of how the company operates and not the fault of customer service agents trying to do their best.
What can you do?
Sit down with your staff and use this list of common issues to ignite a brainstorming session. Discover if your business is guilty of any of these, or potentially other, systematic failures. The first step is awareness, and the second is to take action and fix whatever is broken.
Often, bad experiences with businesses are rooted in internal friction and broken or poorly designed systems, rather than frontline behaviour by staff.
During my customer service workshops, we do an exercise we call the ‘Moment of Misery Grid’. The short version is that participants are asked to write down all the complaints they hear and how often they hear them. We then list them in order, with the most common complaints at the top.
It always surprises me when someone says, “We hear this all the time.” I then ask, “Why?” If you hear it all the time, why haven’t you done something about it? The next part of the exercise is to discuss ways to eliminate or at least mitigate the problems.
Before we go further, I recognise that some businesses already have this dialled in. This exercise seems obvious; however, many are surprised by the responses. They know there are problems, but they can’t always tell you how often they happen, or what they cost.
So, let’s take this concept to the next level. Instead of how often we hear about the same problems, consider
this question: How often do we find ourselves fixing the same problem two or more times for a customer?
It’s one thing to have many customers calling and complaining about the same problem. If you can eliminate the problem, consider how much time, effort, and funds could be put toward more productive opportunities.
But when a customer has to call you twice or more for the same issue, this unnecessary call wastes time and energy for both the company and the customer. How often does this happen? Just as many businesses have a goal and a metric for first call resolution, there should also be metrics for the number of calls and the amount of time required to resolve the same issue.
You’re looking to answer at least five questions:
- How often do we fail to resolve the customer’s issue the first time?
- How many times do customers contact us after the initial contact for the same problem?
- How long did it take to finally resolve the customer’s issue?
- What’s the average time it takes to finally resolve the problem?
- How long would it take if it were solved on the first call?
That last question may be the most important metric. This will tell you how much time and money were spent
because you couldn’t resolve the problem on the first call.
The point is that, just as you look to eliminate problems overall, you should also look for ways to eliminate the second, third, or fourth call for the same problem.
If customers are calling you twice for the same issue, the problem isn’t the customer. It’s the system, so fix it! Every repeat call that is eliminated yields dividends in time, money, and customer goodwill. And that’s what a great customer service experience looks like: fixing problems once, not apologising for them twice!
Customer service trifecta
If you go to the horse track, you can place a bet known as the trifecta. This is where you correctly predict which horses will finish first, second, and third, and in the specific order. The payout is typically big because, while it’s simple in theory and easy to explain, it is a hard bet to win.
Here’s a bet you can always win- taking care of your customers. And when you do it right, you hit the trifecta:
- First: The customers will return to your business.
- Second: Customers who come back will typically spend more every time.
- Third: Customers who return will also recommend you to friends and family.
We love it when customers do our advertising and marketing for us. So, how can we define taking care of your customers?
Here’s a simple definition: Taking care of your customers means consistently delivering on what they expect, in a way that’s easy, respectful,
and reliable every time.
So, let’s break down the important words within this definition.
Consistently: The experience must be predictable and consistent. Consistency creates confidence. Confidence creates trust, which leads to repeat business and, ideally and ultimately, customer loyalty.
Expect: Customers want you to meet their expectations. If you consistently – there’s that word again – meet those expectations, you don’t leave your customers hoping for more. And occasionally, you can go ‘above and beyond’ when the opportunity presents itself.
Easy: This is a matter of convenience. Customers love doing business with a company or business that is easy and convenient.
Respectful: In addition to treating customers with respect, also acknowledge their time. Wasting someone’s time is a sign of disrespect.
Reliable: This goes along with consistency and expectations. The product must do what the customer paid for. No matter how good the service is, if the product doesn’t work, even the friendliest customer service won’t get customers to come back.
When a customer chooses to do business with you, there’s an agreement. They give you money in exchange for a product or service, and they expect you to take care of them as I’ve defined it.
It may seem like common sense, and it is; however, that doesn’t mean it’s easy to implement. You need all employees on board with this simple concept. Everyone must understand how they contribute to the concept of customer care.
Do that, and you’re not gambling. You’re betting on a sure thing. You’ll hit the trifecta!
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