Tag Archives: customerservice

A Guy Named Joe And Customer Service!

Posted on by
Reply

There was this guy who worked in a shoe store. The store was located in a strip plaza. The parking was very convenient.

Joe always felt bad when he saw handicapped people struggle to get from their car into the store.

One day, he saw one of these customers parking in front of the store. He immediately went out to the parking lot and told the customer that to make it easier on them, he would fit their feet right there in the car if that would be more convenient.

The customer was delighted with this offer and agreed. Everything went fine and when they were done, Joe told the customer that whenever they came to buy shoes, to just send someone into the store and he would go to the car to take care of them.

Joe simply wanted to make it easier for this customer. He sincerely felt bad that their problem made it difficult for them to shop.

Was this the only customer Joe would do this for? Not after the word got out!

Did Joe offer that service just to get positive word of mouth? No!

Did Joe build a loyal following of customers with mobility problems? Yes!

Did he also sell shoes to those customer’s family and friends?  Yes!

How do I know that Joe really gained all of those loyal customers because he provided that service?

The Joe I talk about above is none other than yours truly!

About these ads

Poor Customer Service And The Non-Complaining Customer!

Posted on by
Reply

There are some customers that don’t complain when they are unhappy with customer service. They just quietly leave and never come back.

You never had a shot at selling them and you never will!

How can you tell who these customers are?

YOU CAN’T!

Will these customers recommend your business to others?  NO!

Will these customers talk negatively about your business? PROBABLY!

Are you willing to risk losing these customers with a so-so customer service policy and attitude?

Customer Service Is “Manipulating Symbols”

Posted on by
2
  • No matter how rude a customer can be……..
  • No matter how grumpy a customer can be……
  • No matter how demanding a customer can be…….
  • No matter how uninformed a customer can be……
  • No matter how unreasonable a customer can be……

You can satisfy the vast majority of them and keep them loyal to your business.

Here is all you have to do:

  • Keep your mouth shut!
  • Listen to what they say!
  • Send your fragile ego out to lunch!
  • Solve their problem!

You solve their problem by thinking. Thinking is manipulating symbols or data in your brain. Thinking is not “recalling” a list of things to do. Manipulating symbols and data in your brain helps you come up with new and novel ideas and solutions. This is what you must do when dealing with customers. You can classify them all you want, but every single one of them is unique in some way. This is why you can’t rely on a one-size-fits-all customer service policy. A written customer service policy is only effective as a starting point. The uniqueness of those customers will require you to think when dealing with them. If you or your associates stick to a “policy”, without being flexible, you will not satisfy a lot of them. You’ve got a customer service policy but you’re back to square one with customer satisfaction.

This is why customer service doesn’t get a whole lot better. Inflexible customer service policies don’t work. Consumers are unique and they change. I call that flexible. The people dealing with that must also be flexible! In too many cases they’re not allowed to be. Thus, the never-ending story!

Contrary to popular belief, creativity is not reserved for artists and inventors. Most people use creativity much more often than they think they do. If you allow people in service positions to use that creativity more often, the benefits to your business will be greater than you may know!

Their is a solution to every problem! Are your associates allowed to “manipulate symbols” to come up with those solutions? Do you “manipulate symbols” to help make that so?

 

 

A How-To Manual For Destroying Customer Retention And Loyalty!

Posted on by
Reply

Since there are so many businesses out there that seem intent on destroying customer loyalty and retention, I thought I would put out a step-by-step manual that will help them do a quick and thorough job of destroying their service and not waste a lot of time in the process. This list applies to sales associates and management.

In no particular order:

  1. Be apathetic towards all customers.
  2. Sell crappy products and don’t stand behind them.
  3. Never apologize if a customer is unhappy. It’ll make you look soft!
  4. Never admit your products could have faults…….. you don’t want to upset your vendors.
  5. Make sure your associates understand how stupid customers really are.
  6. Sell people anything and get them out the door so you can get on with your paperwork before there is another customer to “cash” out.
  7. Never acknowledge a customer. This is a business, you’re not here to make friends. You’re here to push products out the door.
  8. Never, never, make your discounts clear and easy for customers to understand.
  9. Don’t give actual discounts. Mark your products up in price to give the appearance of a discount. You always have to  keep the stockholders interests at heart.
  10. Make customers wait a long time for any assistance. Maybe they won’t come back again and bother you.
  11. Be sure to hire a CEO who only understands numbers. You don’t want them to waste their valuable time caring about customers.
  12. Be sure to tell all customers who make a purchase…”you bought it, you own it”.
  13. Make sure your sales associates don’t really understand the products they are selling. They’ll waste too much time communicating this to customers.
  14. Never hire enough people to handle your customer flow. It’s not worth the added expense.
  15. Never, ever walk a customer to the merchandise they are looking for or to the department they should be in. Always point them in the right direction. Otherwise, you might get tired out before your shift ends.
  16. Train all associates to shut down their brains while working. (No creative thinking allowed).
  17. Never say “thank you” to a customer especially if they buy something.
  18. Never tell a customer you don’t know the answer to their question but “I’ll find out for you in a moment”.
  19. Never ask a customer if they are happy with their purchase.
  20. Teach all associates that the customers are out to “get us”! This way they are ready to do battle.
  21. It’s more important to have low paid help so you have more money for executive bonuses and the stockholders.
  22. Always remember, if all of your help quits, you’re smart enough and capable enough, and have enough time to get all of their work done yourself. They’re not worth anywhere near what you are worth.
  23. A good way to get your money’s worth out of those high paid associates is to give them plenty of paperwork and stock work to get done. That way they won’t waste too much time with customers.
  24. Never let associates say to a customer….”I’m here to help you”.
  25. Do everything on this list so you can keep the stockholders satisfied and “loyal”!

I kept this list to only 25 simple steps. There are more things you can do, but that would just be overkill! The above will do a thorough job of meeting your objective. 25 simple, easy to implement steps that can help you rid your business of the bother of customer service and customer retention. Good luck!

If You Have Any Doubts About The Value Of Creating Customer Loyalty……Read On!

Posted on by
8

On this post, instead of rant and lecture about customer service, I’m going to give an example of why I feel so confident in the power of excellent customer service.

You can read daily about the many bad experiences people have with customer service.

You can read daily about the good experiences people have with customer service.

You read that your business should make customer service a priority, especially in today’s marketplace.

But you rarely read about the proof of the pudding; with real life examples that show the results for a business when you give excellent service.

Well, your about to get one of those examples!

The anecdote I’m going to tell demonstrates the results that can accrue by providing that excellent service. It can literally create “raving fans” for your business. It’s one of the many stories from my own experience that demonstrates how powerful excellent customer service can be in creating customer loyalty.

This is not an anomaly. Situations like this occurred in our store many, many times.

We get a phone call in our store one day from one of our regular customers. She’s in a panic!

This customer was a dedicated user of a walking shoe we carried. She had some foot problems and these shoes were the only ones that gave her any comfort. They were the number one “rated” line of walking shoes in the country. In fact, we won a “national award” from the company for being one of the top 5 independent retailers in the United States in sales of these shoes. No small accomplishment considering the tiny town we were in. Needless to say, we sold a lot of these shoes. But I digress.

My customer was calling from Las Vegas and had just arrived there for a two-week stay. She anxiously told me she forgot her walking shoes and asked if I could mail her out a pair. I told her I could send them but I was concerned about them getting to her on time. ( Our store was in upstate NY. That put her pretty much across the country.) She then responded that I could send them next day air shipping. I told her that would cost $15 extra. She said that was fine by her but she needed those shoes. Now, for anyone that’s never been to Las Vegas, let me state that you spend a tremendous amount of time on your feet while there so I understood her anxiety.

Read  what I said next to her and think deeply on it. What I said is the reason our store had many, many “raving fans”, and “raving fans” purposely tell lots of other people to shop at your store.

I said the following in keeping with my philosophy to always want to help my customers and do so with the least anxiety to them. It’s not about the money, it’s about helping! If you help, the money takes care of itself. This applies to any size business.

I told her that I was sure there would be a store in Vegas that carried the shoes she needed. I would even check for her. She could pick them up there and save the $20 dollar expense of shipping them from NY. It was no problem for me to ship them, but I wanted to give her a more convenient option.

Now comes the payoff for giving excellent service and creating customer loyalty.

She said, “no way”! I buy my shoes from you because you’re the only one I trust.

The shoes were shipped that day, she got them the following day. She even stopped into my store when she returned home to thank me again for helping her out.

Do you think she talked about this to her friends and family? Do you think she recommended my store to others?

End of story!