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Dealing with Disgruntled Customers
No matter how hard you try, in business you simply can't please everyone. You could have a highly trained customer service squadron and an award-winning product, but still you'd have some buyers who just weren't happy. The bad news is that unhappy...
PR: Time For a New Playbook?
When your public relations results pretty much depend on whether your news item gets used in a newspaper column or on a radio talk show, you may be ready for a fresh approach.
Why not shoot for a 1-2 PR punch?
First, focus sharply on...
Reward Your Customers
The formula for success for any business is to get your customers to make repeat purchases. There are a number of factors involved for getting repeat customers: pricing, quality of products and services, excellent customer service etc. One of the...
Use Forums To Improve Customer Relationship Management
Forums are great for learning, sharing of ideas, and generally masterminding with peers, but give some thought to the impact they can have on your lead generation efforts, as well as on your customer relationship management activities.
Joining an...
Wrapping Yourself Around the Customer
The concept of wrapping ourselves around our customers is worth a second look.
Isn't that a great customer service philosophy? My friend Bill McBain with Benjamin West sent me an email following the last newsletter about his meeting with his...
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Battling with Customer Service: How to Win the War, Part 2 of 2
If you've already read Part 1 of "Battling with Customer
Service: How to Win the War," congratulations! You're halfway to
becoming a pro. Follow these last five steps and you'll be on
track to bending the minds of customer service representatives
everywhere. Without further ado...
6. Don't drink and dial.
It seems like a good idea at first; the mind says no, but the
six-pack says yes. You've had a great relationship for years.
Why throw it all away over a silly dispute? You decide to pick
up that phone, one last time, and see if they realize what
they're missing. Has this logic ever worked? Here's a hint: no.
Calling customer service in an obviously altered state of mind
will cause your pleas to fall on deaf, yet slightly amused,
ears. If you want customer service to take a complaint or
concern seriously, save the six-pack for when you call your ex.
7. Call during off-hours.
Yes, hold music is corporate America's version of water torture.
To keep your sanity intact, try calling during off-hours. What
are off-hours, you ask? If Company X has 24x7 customer service,
try calling after 10pm. If not, try calling Tuesday-Thursday
between 10am-8pm or any time on Sunday.
8. Don't call a "special number."
The blog of a spurned employee, a news station, or a radio show
might give you some kind of "secret" and "internal" number to
Company X. They may claim it will eliminate hold time.
Oftentimes, these "special numbers" are specifically for field
technicians or an obscure department that cannot handle the
concern. Call the main customer service number and pick the
correct department. The towering inferno that is the Voice
Response Unit may mistake your spoken request to "pay a bill in
Iowa" for "cancelling all services immediately in Connecticut,"
but simply stating "agent" to the VRU may get you to a real,
live person. If "agent" does not work, try
similar terms such as
"operator," "representative," "customer service," "parasite from
the nether world," or "spawn of Satan."
9. Escalate, but only if necessary.
If there's no light at the end of a bleak tunnel, ask for a
supervisor; however, do not immediately ask for management if
you were mishandled on a previous call. Customer service
representatives undergo weeks of training and, oftentimes, are
more familiar with current customer issues than their
supervisors. Supervisors are there to ensure that customer
service representatives are doing their jobs; it is the job of
the customer service representative to handle your call and
concern.
10. Carefully consider contacting outside regulatory authorities.
If absolutely necessary, contact the Federal Communications
Commission, established in 1934 to regulate communications by
wire, cable, satellite, radio, and television. Complaints to the
FCC are taken seriously and will be handled at Company X by a
department well trained on their rules and regulations. Due to
the escalated nature of this department, they may have higher
hold times and more restricted hours of operation than regular
customer service. If you've been completely, hideously, utterly,
and unforgivably wronged, feel free to call a regulatory
organization. If you'd like to voice a complaint, but do not
need any further action taken regarding your concern, call or
e-mail the company itself.
If you follow these ten tips, the balance may swing in your
favor. May the customer service workforce be with you.
About the author:
Gwendolyn Lee is a statistician and analyst of Internet-related
metrics for custom rubber stamps and stamp accessories at www.rubberstamps.net. She
has researched and implemented business models to maximize
profitability, efficiency and advertising tracking.
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