| Current Category is: Customer Service | Select Another Category | |
|
|
| Home | Search | Categories | Links | About Us | Contact Us |
|
|
 |
Committed To Your Customer? Prove It When They Complain!
Businesses like to brag in their advertising about quality of work, commitment to their customers, and excellent service. These statements are also proudly advanced in Mission, Vision, and Values Statements. They are foundational to success. But, let's face it we all occasionally make misteaks (misspelling intentional) and, even in the best of companies, anger a loyal customer. If we are lucky, we have built up enough "satisfaction-equity" with miffed customers that they will take the time and effort to complain, giving us the opportunity to correct the situation instead of them just silently defecting to the competition. It makes no difference if the complaint is justified or not (customers make misteaks also!), but when a customer complains, realize they are offering the company a chance to continue the relationship and save a customer by backing up all those claims of commitment with an immediate, polite, and satisfactory response. Let's assume the complaint is unjustified and the customer is dead wrong. You are in a position of potentially losing a customer without having done anything wrong so better respond fast. Respond by thanking the customer for bringing the matter to your attention and politely explain the customer's incorrect perception of error. Offer, a "thank you for your loyalty" extra service, coupon, or partial refund just to help induce the customer to return. After all, the complaining customer is giving you the opportunity to woo them back. On the other hand, if the complaint is justified and you are in error, think of this as a real opportunity to prove your mettle. If the error is systemic, change the system to insure this error will not happen again and notify the customer about the new procedure. If the error is just a dumb mistake, apologize profusely. In either case, offer inducements to right the wrong, and follow-up. If you sincerely work to apologize and explain the situation that caused the problem, reasonable people who have been satisfied in the past, will give you a second chance when you prove your commitment. Larry Galler coaches and consults with high-performance executives, professionals, and small businesses since 1993. He is the writer of the long-running (every Sunday since November 2001) business column, "Front Lines with Larry Galler" Sign up for his free newsletter at http://www.larrygaller.com Questions??? Send an email to larry@larrygaller.com
MORE RESOURCES:
Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Poor Customer Service - Are Your Customers Driving Away Other Customers Every customer you have is a word-of-mouthadvertiser for you. Unfortunately 90% of this freeadvertising is negative. Customer Service, the Internets Primary Neglected Business Concern Customer service is everything to a business. Just look at big, successful retail chains: They let you return perfectly good merchandise just because you changed your mind. The Number 1 Rule for Businesses - Be Professional Have you ever walked into a store and things looked sloppy? Stores should have nice neat displays, right? Normally, yes, but sometimes they get a bit messy on busy days and we all understand how that can happen.But what if you were to walk into a store as soon as it opened in the morning and the place looked liked it had been ransacked? What would you think?You'd probably think it wasn't very professional-looking. 6 Reasons Why Complaining Customers are Golden With Some Tips on How to RespondTt has probably happened to you if you own your own online business. You get an email or even a phone call from someone who is upset or unhappy with this or that about your business. Add Value - And Kill Mediocrity in Customer Service There are two kinds of customer service we all experience occasionally, outstanding customer service, and bad customer service. What we experience most of the time is mediocre customer service. 7 Bits Of Critical Information You Cant Afford NOT To Know About Your Customers If you think customer relationship management is just a piece of software, you're dead wrong. Customer relationship management is about understanding your customers. Over Deliver - The Key to Customer Satisfaction Client satisfaction starts with meeting or beating the contractual obligations of the relationship. There are also some intangibles that can help you to over deliver to a client. Your Actions Tell Your Clients How You Expect To Be Treated There is a widely accepted principle of human behavior that goes something like this. "Your actions tell the world how you expect to be treated. The Dissatisfied Customer We, as small business people, naturally dislike complaints from our clients and customers. Because we're intimately involved with our home businesses, small businesses, or freelance careers, any complaint takes on a personal commentator. Mexico: Online Ordering-Dont! I got it into my head sometime in December 2004 that I wanted order a laptop computer. I thought I would get one from the hugely popular computer company that allows you to call their 800 number and custom order what you want. Becoming A Solution To Your Customers Problems Those of us in home based and small businesses are in effect selling our product. So becoming an effective salesperson is very important. Customer Satisfaction Is Your Business Regardless of what business you are in - you are really in the business of satisfying customers. The degree of customer satisfaction you deliver determines the level of long-term success you will achieve in business. Establishing Yourself as an Expert in the Eyes of Your Customers The most important aspect of a successful business is developing the correct mindset toward your customers. And this is not the over used phrase The customer is always right. Got A Consumer Problem? Millions of people, just like you, end up with a consumer problem that they just can't seem to get resolved. No matter what they do. Importance of Good Customer Support in Online Computer Peripherals Shops Looking for hi-fi computer peripherals? Finding it tough to decide on the product you need to purchase? Not sure about the models that are available? Not sure about the configuration that would best suit your need? Worried that your budget might not fetch you your long dreamt hi-fi? Just relax!! There are many great world class online computer peripherals shopping centers. They offer you not only the best computer peripherals but also friendly online help in their world class online computer peripherals shopping sites. Adjustment DENIED It's just a simple thing - I bought a new set of shelves for my office. It wasn't a real problem, but when I got the shelves home, I found dents on the front of the shelves where the package had been leaned up on some other object, the shelves had been removed from the original box and put into another box. Restaurant Owners - How Important are People Skills? You are serving great food. Your establishment is new, spotless and inviting and yet you are not getting the repeat visits that you expect. We Got It Wrong: Never Under Promise & Over Deliver You know how it is, you believe something for so long, everyone agrees with you, all the books tell you it's true and then suddenly you have a blinding revelation - we've all been duped! You know like my gorilla mates were? (If you're not sure about my gorilla mates then you really need to read the book - we've got a great offer on at the moment!)And you feel such a chump - how did I ever fall for that - the logic just isn't there - I must have been a fool. Let me explain. Create Win-Win Deals With Your Competitors In the competitive world of the 20th century, we generally viewed competitors as the enemy. And a competitor was anyone who sold to the same target audience as us - even if they sold a different item. Are You Satisfying Your Customers? The latest report from the American Customer Satisfaction Index (Michigan School of Business) reports the following:Customer dissatisfaction with the quality goods and services offered in the marketplace is more than a nuisance. The US economy is heavily dependent on increases in consumer spending.
|
| Home
| Sitemap
| Disclaimer
| Privacy
| Contact
Us © COPYRIGHT 2011 BRAINBELLY.COM |
