Photo taken from http://rotorama.com/
1. KISS! (Keep it simple stupid)
Customer service is all about serving our customers. It’s our responsibility to constantly review and keep our IVRs or customer service related procedures simple. Personally, I dread Interactive Voice Response Systems (IVRs). As a customer, it’s extremely frustrating when I have to get through layers after layers of CSRs in order to get help.
Complicated procedures that constantly put your customers on hold (or send them on a wild-goose chase) will decrease your company’s customer service standards. Simple procedures make maintaining relationships with our customers easy. It shows them that we have considered their needs, and that we have removed all the unnecessary procedures so that we can better serve them. If their calls are truly important to you, prove to them that it’s easy to connect with you, instead of leaving them an automated message.
“Your call is important to us, please continue to hold…”
2. Robots are so passé
Not only is it important to thank to your customers, it’s also important to make sure your customer service representatives are interacting with them in a ‘human’ manner. Albert Mehrabian published 2 papers in 1967 that examined the power of communication in a 7%-38%-55% rule. Communication is made up of 3 parts:
1. The actual words you use (7%),
2. The tone of delivery (38%),
3. The body language accompanying your words (55%)
Thus a lukewarm, robotic “Thank You,” has only a 7% impact of connecting with you customers. Your ability to connect with your customers depends on your ability to communicate genuine tone and body language.
A well trained customer service representative is one who watches his or her tone and body language. They are the ones who interact with your customers everyday. This means that they are the ones who are able to influence the way your customers perceive your company directly.
3. Yup, let’s keep them waiting…
The fastest way to lose a customer is to keep them waiting. The UK retail industry lost up to 70-billion worth of business in 2010 to slow customer service. Similarly, a study in 2011 showed that a 2 second slow-down costs Bing 4.3% of its revenue. Uservoice also proved that quick responses lead to happier customers. Customers want to be respond to quickly, and to have their problems solved quickly.
Don’t give them an impression that your customer service is sluggish. Find ways to speed up your customer service and stay connected with them. Even if you have to let them wait, don’t let them wait ‘alone’. Staff a 24 hour per day hotline. Set up an online email system so that your customers can quickly get help. Add a chat feature to your website (Try Zopim! =D). If a problem requires weeks to fix, it’s crucial to keep your customer updated. The key here is to remain connected to your customers. Let them know that you are interested in their needs and that you are there for them, one way or another.
4. More, amour
Good customer service is like extra emotional glue that maintains the bond between your customer, your product, and your company. According to Geoffrey James, writer at Inc.com, customers make purchases because of a change in their emotional state. While information does play a part in their decision-making, ultimately emotions trigger the decision. All decisions are based on 6 main emotions (Greed, Fear, Altruism, Envy, Pride, Shame), and a decision is made when enough of these emotions are stirred up in the buyer.
Furthermore, Daniel Goleman, author of Working With Emotional Intelligence says that, ‘How customers feel when they interact with an employee determines how they feel about the company.’. If emotions triggered their decision to buy your product, then emotions will make them return to you. The best impression you can leave in your customer is thus not a good sales pitch a product, but an imprint in their emotions. Good customer service preserves that emotional bond. It closes your sale on a positive note, and gives them a fond and personable memory to remember you by.
Going ALL out
I once dropped my phone into a sink full of water. Since the infamous rice trick didn’t work, I called the manufacturer (yes, I knew that water damage was not covered) to try if I could get the device replaced for a nominal fee.
I sent an email explaining what had happened. Much to my surprise, the CEO replied the next day and told me that he understood how I felt because he experienced it himself before! He offered to replace the device for free once I sent in the damaged device. The CEO kept his word; few days later, my replacement phone arrived.
Ritz Carlton recently went all out for one of their customer as well. They actually took photos of a soft toy giraffe all around their hotel to help fulfill a customer’s request.
This is what true customer service is about: going all out for your customers. Much like the widely recounted story of The Star Thrower, it’s not always feasible to do what this CEO or Ritz Carlton did for all your customers, start one customer at a time. At the very least it will make an impact on the life of that customer you went all out for.
What else have you done for your customers today? Share it with us in the comments!
Thanks for the thoughts on customer service. I’m with you on your frustration about calling companies with endless automated voice systems. Many of them no longer allow you to press zero to connect with someone directly. It’s like they want to send me to the competitor.
It’s true that an emotional trigger is the reason customers decide to stay with or leave a business. My goal is to teach front line employees to get to know people as soon as possible so that when the inevitable emotional trigger hits the customer will trust first and thinking of leaving no sooner than second… :v)
Thanks for a place to comment.
Hey David!
Wow, I did not know that there are companies that don’t allow you to press zero to connect with someone directly.
I recently interacted with Kassie Rempel, CEO of SimplySoles via email, and she tells me that even though it may be time consuming to write handwritten thank you notes to all her customers, she does it anyway because it’s part of who they are. I feel encouraged, David, meeting people like you and Kassie. People who put in the time and effort to engage the ‘person’ of the customer.
Thanks for taking the time to comment!
I have fought to introduce a global satisfaction guarantee for our products that allow customers to return stuff even if they used it for whatever reason. My attitude is that it is better to take an occasional hit rather than have a customer who is unhappy with his purchase. Management was weary of this but gave it a chance.
The satisfaction guarantee is a great selling tool and puts people’s mind at ease. It is risk free internet shopping and coupled with a very informal returns procedure (we ask customers to print off the email string discussing the return and enclose it with the goods) has proved popular. We do not challange the request to return items and make this process an efficient one. In a society which finds complaining about a problem, problemematic, removing the barrier from someone wishing to show his dissatisfaction is important. I rather know there is a problem and try to fix it, than lose a customer without having a chance to sort it out for him/her.+
Returns have not increased (but we do have a top notch product ;-D) and reviews where we did take product back were favourable, even if the customer was not totally happy with his purchase.
Thanks for the article. It’s fitting for my new job.
I shoul reread it…
Thanks for the article Samuel. I do have some faith in IVRs, at least the competent ones. Although I don’t think I’d need a company to parade around with a stuffed toy for me, it is always a nice feeling to feel that they actually care.