I am forever wondering the same thing...what happened to customer service?
In this fast moving, high energy, business world, when did we lose that good old fashioned 'customer service' option.
It's as if companies don't need customers!!
Has something happened that we have not been made aware of? Have companies become omnipotent and just exist without having to have customers willing to buy their stuff to keep them in business?
Oh no...actually, they DO need us to buy their stuff but if you want after sales service it seems more and more likely that you will fall victim to the 'we have your money: tough' attitude.
A case in point is the automated service you get on the telephone with these places. "Press 1 for... Press 2 for...." And then you get a voice telling you that you now have 8 more options...then 4 more options...and then...'I'm sorry, that department is not taking calls, goodbye'. (BT) Or you end up in India, the Philippines or somewhere else in the world. They ask you to tap in date of birth, account number, door number, numbers from postcode, dogs middle name and blood group and then, when you finally get through to a life form, they ask for all those details again!
I train Customer Service departments when I visit large companies...even small companies whose CS department is only three people...and there are some Laws....
DISCLAIMER! These are not rules out of a book, a training manual or something from some school, college or University. They are LAWS! They come from EXPERIENCE, COMMON SENSE AND THE STREET. YEARS of experience. They Work!
BE THE BENCHMARK OTHER COMPANIES ARE MEASURED AGAINST!
Law 1
COMMITMENT
You MUST have a commitment to your customer. THEY, on the other hand, do NOT have a commitment to you! You need to create their commitment to you...start now!
One of the biggest challenges companies have is keeping customers. It's quite easy for a company to mess things up once in a while or to screw a customer around for no reason. It's done every day. But some companies take it to an art form.
So many companies send their sales staff out into the big wide world, either door to door or by telephone, to 'get new customers' and completely forget that they already have a ton of customers. It's far easier to get business from people who are already a customer than to get new customers! Duh!
If you look after your customer then they will be your customer for good. By looking after your customer I mean: Do what you say you are gonna do, give them what they expect to get, and more...OVERDELIVER!
Law 2
SATISFACTION
You may think satisfying your customer is a big deal? Guess what? It's not a big deal...it's expected! It is a condition of the deal. It is expected by your customer, of course. They expect to be satisfied by your product. They expect to be satisfied by you. You should see that as a matter of course.
Customer satisfaction is a priceless commodity. If your customer has peace of mind, they won't give you a piece of their mind....Got it? No issues, no complaints, no challenges. Your customer isn't expecting a trouble or issue free time but they are hoping for one and they also want to know one thing. If issues or problems arise, YOU are going to deal with them immediately!
Law 3
CONTACT
Remember all that work you did to get that customer? Why did you stop? You need to KEEP them. The work STARTS when you get them!
There are more Laws to this...and they really do work but, bottom line is simple....if you want a long term career, if you have kids at private schools, if you have a mortgage, if you want three holidays a year, nice cars, a great standard of living then you need to wise up. If you lose customers ALL OF THAT CHANGES!
Over deliver. Involve them. Call them and ask what else they want. they bought from you once, they will buy again.
I firmly believe, from my experience of training salespeople: "The salespeople give up selling LONG before
the buyer stops buying"
You cannot expect to mine for gold in the same place every day...one day it will dry up. Service your existing customers. Stop making it hard for them with your automated call systems, your hold music, exorbitant charges, ignoring their calls, emails, requests for help.
Be the company they believed you were when they became your customer. It was you who told them anyway...don't lie.
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