Finally, we have a venue where we can call out companies for their lousy customer service. How have they offended you? Tell us your horror stories.
Warn your friends, neighbors, and the community at large.
Just as important, let us know how you overcame awful service and finally got the treatment you deserved.
YOUR VOICE WILL BE HEARD AROUND THE WORLD!
I'll report the most flagrant examples on TV and through my articles and books.
In some cases, I'll pick up the phone on your behalf and take up your cause, PERSONALLY.
You're not alone.
Join us here and share your experiences.
Best,
Gary
Dr. Gary S. Goodman
President
Customersatisfaction.com
Clientelations.com
Author: MONITORING, MEASURING & MANAGING CUSTOMER SERVICE
www.customersatisfaction.com
gary@customersatisfaction.com
CNBC expert commentator
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Customer Service is FREE!
A few years ago, Philip Crosby wrote a best-selling book, QUALITY IS FREE.
Countering the perception that producing flawless products is costly, Crosby demonstrates that the savings achieved, especially in manufacturing, by doing something right the first time, and by avoiding recalls and repairs, is an effort that more than pays for itself.
In the same spirit, I’m here to shout from the rooftops that CUSTOMER SERVICE IS FREE.
This is to counter a growing and debilitating belief that providing service, especially through human beings, is a costly frill, unnecessary, and old hat when technologies such as the Internet can be used to provide information and to promote much cheaper self-help.
Companies are gutting their customer service staffs, in some cases after having outsourced them at a surprisingly higher cost--30% higher according to a Gartner Group study--but with diminished quality.
There is a fundamental misperception regarding service that muddles our thinking and leads to the slashing of training budgets and the evisceration of service staffs, everywhere:
Accountants, operations officers, and the companies they serve have wrongly labeled customer service as a COST.
The implication is that a dollar invested in a person that answers questions and calms concerned callers earns back something substantially less than a dollar in repeat business, referrals, add-on sales, positive public relations, and employee satisfaction.
This perception has never been conclusively proved.
There simply aren’t many studies that even try to assess the impact customer service has on the bottom line, whether it is the effect of an individual rep on her clients, or the impact a company’s service program has on retaining and enhancing its customer base, or the effects service is responsible for producing across an industry or the economy, as a whole.
We see many assertions that “It is 6 times” or “8 times” or “10 times” more costly to put a new customer onto the books than to retain an existing one, but how many companies have customer satisfaction monitoring techniques in place that capture the service events and specifically say: “Emily saved this customer, whose expected life-cycle value to our firm is X Dollars, by using an effective protocol for customer transaction handling”?
Less dramatically, how many firms track what everyone seems to say is the Holy Grail of service, customer loyalty? More to the point, can your organization accurately predict which of today’s clients will stay with you and which will bolt, before it’s too late?
Rare as they are, such metrics can be found, and we must develop more of them.
For example, my TEAMEASURES (TM) or Telephone Effectiveness Assessment Measures (TM) monitor customer transactions for what we term, “Recommitment.” This is a pledge, or its equivalent, that a client will return to do added business with us.
This STATED INTENTION, ELICITED UNOBTRUSIVELY AND VOLUNTARILY FROM THE CUSTOMER, operationally defines Loyalty, enabling it to be purposely evoked, tracked, monetized, and rewarded both for the customer and for the service rep that engenders it.
Without devices such as TEAMEASURES‘ and the systematic thought and research and investment they embody, customer service departments, and service providers in general, fail to justify their existence, and quietly disappear.
In this sense, failing to appreciate that customer service is free, is the most costly customer service mistake of all.
Great Example of B-A-A-A-D Service!
This just in from Suzy:
Just yesterday I searched for Theory pants online at Bluefly.com. Found a pair I liked that were "wool". When I went to read the full description, it made mention of the fact that the pants are a combination of polyester, rayon and spandex.
Coincidentally, a pop-up appeared, asking if I would like to chat with customer service. Perfect timing. I mentioned the "wool" pants, and asked "where's the wool?". The rep responded, "I think when the polyester and rayon combine, they make wool". To which I responded. "Poly and rayon are synthetic fibers.
Wool is a natural fiber. Wool comes from lambs, hence, "lambs wool". She backed away, and I didn't hear from her again. Needless to say, I didn't purchase the pants.
Have a great day.
A correction from Suzy regarding her pursuit of pants:
Oops... I forgot to mention that I was looking for Theory pants, and realizing that Bluefly.com doesn't carry Theory, I opted to look at BCBG pants. It was Style # 2071863 BCBG that was advertised as "wool". You might want to update the blog, if you're striving for accuracy.
Client Relations: Let's Find a Way to Say YES!
A few days ago I was standing in line far too long, to get a simple prescription filled for a family member.
Then I heard the bad news:
“Your carrier said your benefits expired on April 4.”
“That’s not true,” I replied. “If you look at the card you’ll see that’s the date when my benefits started!”
“Well, they said no. Maybe you can call them,” she sighed with no apparent motivation to pick-up the phone, herself.
I flagged down a supervisor who then ordered the reluctant clerk to make the call.
“But the system says he’s not covered,” she insisted to her superior, clearly siding with the presumed infallibility of a computer instead of her client.
To cover myself, simultaneously, I phoned the member benefits line printed on my health card. After a five-minute wait a person came on and said, “You’re covered; I don’t know what their problem is.”
“Neither do I—Could you please tell the folks here what you just told me?”
She agreed and I shuttled my phone to the clerk who was on the line with my health carrier.
“Sorry, they say you’re not covered,” she stated with vindication.
“Here, this person says I am, so please talk to her.”
“But this other person says you’re not!”
“Please take my phone and talk to someone who will say YES, not no!” I shot back, certainly loud enough to get everyone’s attention.
She looked at the pharmacist for approval, and he nodded.
Within 60 seconds, the prescription was approved.
The insistent clerk isn’t to blame for everything that transpired, but she acted as most CSR’s do when they make a decision.
Once she felt the answer was no she shut out all contradictory information, and she became an obstruction to my getting what I was there for, a prescription.
In other words, she became ego-involved in making her original “No” stick, instead of trying to find a way to say yes, to get me the approval I needed to get the medicine, and the green light she actually needed as well, to sell it.
The prime objective in almost every service situation is to say yes, even if it takes a special effort to do so.
Let's Put and End to "SERVICE SCHIZOPHRENIA"
Contemporary customer service makes most people, for lack of a better term, schizophrenic. Literally, we're “of two minds” about it, making the quality of service in our culture spotty, and a hit and miss proposition, at best. One the one hand, we’re consumers. So, we want the most attentive, personalized, caring and efficient treatment possible.
“Pamper me!” and “Spare no expense!” might be our battle cries, as purchasers in the marketplace. A Mercedes dealership in the Los Angeles area caters to the rich and famous, and on its Wall of Fame you’ll see photos of celebrities taking delivery of their shiny vehicles. Clark Gable’s picture tells you they’ve been at this game for generations, and they’re good at it.
If you buy a Mercedes from them, you’ll suddenly become a celebrity, for at least a few minutes, as they hand you a dozen long-stemmed red roses, and they shoot your picture for The Great Wall. That’s pampering, and while some of us won’t admit it, we love the “A-List” treatment. Then, we put on our business hats and everything changes. We become like that Batman character, “Two-Face,” memorably portrayed by Tommy Lee Jones.
When we’re on the other side of the counter we become misers, carefully rationing the amount of service we’ll dole out to OUR customers and clients. We embrace trends such as CRM, that promote service discrimination, entreating businesses to lavish attention only on the “best,” meaning the most profitable buyers.
What we know to our core, that common sense, consumer wisdom that we can recite whenever we’re shorted on courtesy or amenities, we forget almost entirely from the other side of the table. For instance, as customers, when we’re treated regally, we actually try harder to reward the businesses that are rewarding us. We go out of our way to return to restaurants, hotels, dry cleaners, and other establishments endeavoring to become their best patrons.
We refer our friends and colleagues, hoping to shore up our vendors’ finances so they’ll be around for a long time to come. Instead of begrudging them a profit, we delight in their achievement, appreciating our own wisdom in backing a winner from the beginning. They’re doing their best for us and it’s only natural to do our best for them. But then, we enter our cubicles and robotically inform our clients we can’t circumvent a policy. We practice saying no a hundred different ways, instead of doing our best to find a way to say yes.
I find this split-personality vexing, especially as I appear in TV debates expressing “the consumer’s point of view.” We’re ALL consumers, and what goes around comes around, to summon the old expression. Doing your best for your clients will ultimately benefit you. This has been an article of faith, embraced by service legends, such as Nordstrom, since day one.
Have you ever heard of a restaurant failing because it treated patrons too well, or an airline being grounded because its personnel were too courteous, or a financial institution reeling on the ropes because it was pummeled in the marketplace by offering too many knowledgeable customer service reps to callers?
Most people endeavor to be honest and to make their behavior consistent with the highest ethics and ideals. They want to go home at night, after work, and to “face themselves in the mirror,” and see a single image smiling back.
It’s possible, but first we have to relinquish the adversarial, us-against-them, producer versus consumer attitude that is becoming all too widespread. The most enduring, universally satisfying business models are based on a win/win philosophy.
Let’s bring it back into customer service.
Command & Demands are Guaranteed To Upset Customers!
I like writing my customer service tales when they’re hot, current, and they’re uppermost in mind.
This is one of those stories.
Yesterday, I was returning from an international trip, starting the second leg of the way home.
Already, I had been in the air about 10 hours, and it took another hour to clear customs and to re-check my bags. This followed conducting a new seminar, in two languages before an exacting audience and I was exhausted.
Still, I had another three hours to go, from Houston to Los Angeles.
I was flying First Class.
The flight crew was incredibly self-important, seeming to party on the eve of Thanksgiving while sending the message that the rest of us were rudely interrupting them.
I tried to hand my suit jacket to the flight attendant to be closeted and she barked, “Just a minute!”
There was no “please” attached to that line; just a grumpy, irritated, impatient tone.
What’s interesting about this verbal abuse is it immediately reversed any positive feelings the flight attendant had engendered to that point.
I became reluctant to ask for anything else, even a piddling additional cinnamon roll.
The offending message she used, “Just a minute!” is called a MAND as in command or demand. Any English teacher will say this phrase has an implied “You will wait” or “You must wait” that precedes it.
So, what the flight attendant was saying is “You must wait just a minute!”
That’s harsh and it makes me and most customers feel defensive because it sounds controlling, superior, and unduly authoritarian.
It makes you wonder, “Who is paying whom, here?” If I told you just how much I invested for my itinerary you’d appreciate why so many airlines have suddenly become profitable.
But that won’t last long as folks like me shop for the cheapest seats they can find, because we’re learning that “First Class, ISN’T!”
Customer Service Calls For More Than Single-Handed Help
You've heard about doing a job single-handedly, which I've always taken to mean you do it by yourself.
There are lots of jobs like this. You can drive a cab, sell magazines from a stall or serve lattes from a kiosk.
Nobody's looking over your shoulder and you don't get a fenced-in feeling.
Cleaning pools in Southern California is one of those fair weather, blue sky jobs that enables a person to work at generally nice places and feel he's his own boss.
But my pool man has taken single-handedness to an extreme.
He cleans my pool with one hand and chats on his cell phone with the other.
Not striking me as the type who is hustling scripts to Hollywood producers, or doing day trades through Charles Schwab, I have to surmise that he is shooting the bull with buddies or talking up someone else's lonely sun worshiper.
Of course, that's none of my business until he puts his private life into play, which he's doing by gluing his cell to one ear, and missing the yellow streaks with his other hand.
I left a message for his boss, whom I know. As a customer servant he's not very responsive, but I suggested: (1) The existing pool guy use two hands; (2) The pool company can substitute someone who does; or (3) We can make other arrangements.
All I know is when it comes time for the pool cleaner to be collecting his holiday bonus, I'll be too busy to get to it.
I'm sure I'll be tied up on the phone.
If You Think Sears Sucks, Then Punish Land's End!
I've had a terrible time getting my new washer-dryer repaired under warranty by Sears.
It has broken three or four times during the year, and there seems to be a persistent electrical problem. One would think they'd swap machines, to spare themselves from continuously dispatching fixers to my home, and to retain me as a customer.
But they haven't, and it seems with each repair call I make, the longer it takes for them to even set an appointment.
I've taken my complaint to Sears, online and by phone, to no avail.
Now, I'm expanding the battlefield.
I don't shop at Sears stores, so I can't effectively boycott those outlets. They wouldn't miss having me as a customer.
But I can retaliate by stopping my patronage of Land's End, which I'm doing immediately, and announcing it here.
The same company that owns Sears bought Land's End. So, if I can deny any part of that empire my business, I'm going to do it.
In a book titled "Satisfaction," JD Power IV discusses customers who become "assassins." They have been so offended by poor treatment that they go out of their way to create payback.
Power says assassins are "50 percent more likely to tell someone about a bad experience than an advocate is to tell someone about a great experience."
I'd like to think in my modest way I'm raising the stakes on behalf of all consumers when companies offend us.
My recommendation: Don't punish just one business unit. Go after them all, every evil twin and remote corporate family member you can find.
Maybe, just maybe, one entity will then pressure another into reforming its practices.
This just in from David Young at NBIZ.COM:
On a similar note my wife and I bought a new front load from Sears about a
year and half ago, 1100 USD.
With the bottom riser it took it up to a height
Deb could use. We didn't buy the warranty because our previous washer
had lasted 10 plus years.
Within the first month the electronics went out
after a storm. Since it was the first month the tech came out and fixed it.
She informed us that you should always unplug the machine during storms to
prevent an overload. How convenient is that?
Since I build computers I
put a high quality surge protector on it so we didn't have to mess with that.
Seems to me that for a 1000dollar washer and using any circuit board
that should have been built in.
About a year later the machine began to leak
water. Well, the machine can do a lot of bad things to grumble about
but a water leak can not be lived with.
Again a Sears tech is dispatched. The problem is, according to the tech, the rubber seal where the washer door meets the machine is not sealing correctly and we would be looking at $300
plus to fix it.
Here's the rub. That may not fix it.
Of course if it doesn't
then you're just out 300 and you still have a leak.
HOWEVER, I could buy the
warranty for 350 and they'd fix it. But here's the rub. The rubber gasket
ISN'T really covered under warranty.
The tech would call the repair something else to be able to fix it. How nice.
After we spoke to several people that own appliance stores and several techs
this is just a problem with all front load and to NEVER buy one with
electronics for a control.
That's too bad because the capacity is great for
doing large items and they do take it easier on your clothes.
It came to light that Whirlpool is in the process of buying all washer brands up as
fast as it can but leaving the label on them.
We ended up going to Home Depot and purchasing a new top load. They had
the best price and best customer service, something that matters to me.
No more leakage, no more problems. We are a little screwed on the large items
but we just live with it.
Land's End Responds!!!
After publishing the article about how I'm punishing Land's End for Sears' sucky service, I received this reply, THE SAME DAY:
Dear Dr. Goodman:
Thank you for taking the time to write and share your concerns.
I am very sorry to hear about your experience at Sears. The service you
described greatly disappoints me and I have passed your comments on to
our partners at Sears. If you would also like to contact them they can
most easily be reached at the following:
Emails:
ncr@searshc.com
Snail Mail:
Sears Holdings Corporation
National Customer Relations
1300 Louis Henna Blvd
Round Rock, TX 78664
Thank you again, for writing to us. Your past patronage is valued and
it is my hope that you will give us another opportunity to serve you.
Sincerely,
Jenafer Humphries
Customer Communications
******************
Eds Note: This is a good start. Let's see how Sears responds, if at all!
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