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| Business |
 Failing
for Fun & Profit - Tiny Steps to Heightened Customer
ServiceBy Sharon Neufeld of Been Around the Block Marketing I love failing. There is so much energy in that moment when I realize that I have truly and deeply screwed up that it sets my brain and creativity on fire. Plus, when I’m with the person that I’ve wronged, I have their undivided attention and the opportunity to make an indelible impression on them - and not necessarily for the bad. People realize that we’re human. People realize that we will make mistakes. People who are angry are going to love - or at least appreciate - us forever if we have the guts to take three tiny steps. Just three. Very tiny. Also inexpensive. Let me show you using a story. I joined a gym for health reasons. I primarily needed access to a steam room. That’s all I ever used. One day, the room malfunctioned through no fault of any of the staff. When I reported it on my way out I was told, “We fixed it. It’s working now. You can go back and use it.” When I said that I’d just come from there and it was stony cold I was told, “You’re wrong, it’s working now.” When I replied that it would be some time before it would be hot enough to sit on the tiles or create some sweat (this had happened to me before), I was told for the third time, “You’re wrong. It’s working now.” Hmmmm... I took the time to write the manager. I said that his staff needed to learn the hard fact that it takes a cold steam room some time to heat up and they should be able to tell their clients how long. They also needed to learn some soft facts about treating customers who’d been disappointed with the service. I got a voice mail back. The manager apologized and said that they might look into the heating time issue and by the way, could I call back to let them know exactly who had dealt with me? What I heard was, “Gee, I’m somewhat sorry and I’m not really interested in doing what you asked for but, by the way, could you do ME a favour and take some MORE of YOUR time to rat out one of my staff? Thanks ever so.” Hmmmm. I cancelled my membership within a month. No matter how much good it did my health, I just couldn’t stand going there. Tiny Step One: Acknowledge - Respond immediately at the level of complaint and then go one better. If the customer is there now, talk with them NOW. If they’re on the phone, talk with them or get back to them by phone ASAP. Don’t leave a voice mail so that it’s up to your disappointed customer to take the next action. If they e-mail or write, e-mail or write back. If they picket, bring them tea, muffins and a chair. In any case, send them a hand signed letter, note or card with thanks for taking the time to bring a problem to their attention. Your response must include the recognition that something is wrong. Nothing takes the fury out of disgruntled client like being acknowledged - whether the fault is yours or not. “I really get it that you came here in pain and the steam room isn’t working because someone left the door open and it shut itself off.” How long could I have argued with that? Can you see me just relaxing because someone got it? Tiny Step Two: Apologize - “We should have a policy to check the steam room every 15-20 minutes to make sure that it’s functioning and we screwed up. I’m really sorry that you made the trip here today for nothing.” Now I’m seriously letting go of my disappointment in their service! Even if you have no intention of ever accepting responsibility, even if the whole mess is clearly the customers fault, even if they’re just nuts and spend their lives running around looking for things to yell about, at least say you’re sorry they’re upset. Murmur gently, soothingly and empathically. Or hire someone who can. Tiny Step Three: Amend - This isn’t the time to ask them to help you by pointing fingers or filling out forms for 20 minutes or ANYTHING. This is the time to do something to show YOU are trying to make it right. “I’m going to make sure that the room is checked regularly and if you want to phone before you come down, any staff will happily verify it’s ready for you. And here are coupons for three bottles of water. Please use them during your next visits.” Cost? Five minutes and three dollars. Result? Probably eighteen more months of membership fees. Value to you - about $1000 - minus costs of mopping up because now I’m just melting. Making amends can and must be planned for. Frontline people, or immediately available, on-site supervisors have to have the authority to follow the “P.O.’ed Customer Plan”. They need to be able to provide a sliding scale of remedies to a sliding scale of problems. They need to know when to get someone further up the chain to handle a problem that’s beyond their authority, and could make the customer feel more heard and more important. It’s good to take staff, or yourself, through the most common scenarios and practice, practice, practice good responses. Training them (or yourself) to recognize when a customer is upset and automatically default to a proven win-win strategy is a great investment because resolving a mistake or problem with a customer can make them more loyal than ever. It can result in great word of mouth advertising because people do love to tell the story of how they were once badly done by but then took charge till they ended up being treated like royalty. It also results in stopping bad word of mouth before it can be started. So, acknowledge, apologize, amend. People like to win. Remember that in mollifying an unhappy customer, they get to be the winner. But so does your bottom line. Sharon Neufeld of Been Around the Block Marketing has been sharing her “marketing gene” during 5 years of giving workshops. For FREE Reports, call 403.850.5836 or visit www.solidgroundenergetics.ca |