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Added for You - Tips for Curing Bad Customer Service
Radio Commandment Number 8Thou Shalt Use Radio To Build Strong Business Alliances.When you advertise on radio you hope to reach many thousands of listeners. But there is one type of listener few retailers think about. It is this person that can be just as important and sometimes, more important than your intended market - Business associates.Buyers, manufacturers, wholesalers, distributors. People that you do business with on a day to day basis.The benefits of influencing your secondary markets through radio advertising is important for several reasons.1. It legitimizes your business, especially if you're the new kid on the block. 2. It opens doors to suppliers who may not have been interested in selling product to you. 3. It gives you the opportunity to invite your business associates to work out exclusive promotions. 4. You can create a co-op situation and share the cost of your rad
“We don’t have the ability to keep people that are already happy with our product,” Waller said. “The average business spends six times more to attract new customers than it does to keep old ones. Yet customer loyalty is in most cases worth 10 times the price of a single purchase.”
The first step is recognizing tendencies toward bad customer service. But how do businesses improve their overall customer servi
According to the results of a study presented at the annual conference of the British Psychological Society in April 2005, more than one in eight people admit to being bullied at work, and ganging up against the boss - often a middle manager - is on the increase. But what are ‘bullying behaviours’, and how can you tell if you yourself are being bullied?According to the trade union AMICUS in their publication ’Bullying at work: How to tackle it’, the type of workplaces where bullying is more prevalent are those where one or more of the following factors exist:• An extremely competitive environment• Fear of redundancy or downsizing• Fear for one’s position of employment• A culture of promoting oneself by putting colleagues down• Envy among colleagues• An authoritarian style of management and supervision• Frequent organisational change and uncertainty• Little or no participati
In an all-too-typical scene, a customer walks into a retail store with a question about where to find a product. The employee, who is busy and doesn’t want to be bothered, gives the customer a curt answer and continues what she is doing without even looking the customer in the eye. The customer persists, so, with obvious annoyance, the employee begrudgingly turns around and points the customer in the general direction of the product’s location. Instead of buying the product, the customer leaves the store, frustrated, vowing to never return.
Most business owners and employees recognize this as a classic example of bad customer service. And yet, this scene is repeated endlessly in modern society. Negativity breeds negativity, and eventually, nobody is happy.
“Never, never, never ignore a customer,” says Art Waller, Regional Department Head for Utah State University. Waller provides tips on how to improve customer relations, a vital segment of any business.
“It’s important to be accessible,” Waller said. “Everything is an interruption. A phone rings, someone comes into an office, that’s an interruption. But if a customer is right there, do that first. That’s why you’re there.
One of the single most important aspects of a successful business is good customer service. Waller cited recent findings in customer service. A typical business only hears from 4 percent of its dissatisfied customers. The other 96 percent quietly go away. Of this 96 percent, 68 percent never reveal their dissatisfaction because they perceive an attitude of indifference in the owner, manager or employee.
Waller said this statistic is particularly dangerous for businesses because if a dissatisfied customer can’t express their complaints to a business, they’ll express them through other outlets such as friends, neighbors and family. A typical dissatisfied customer will tell eight to ten people about their problem. One in five will tell 20.
“It takes 12 positive service incidents to make up for one negative incident,” Waller said. “Seven out of ten complaining customers will do business with you again if you resolve the complaint in their favor. If you resolve it on the spot, 95 percent will do business with you again.”
Waller said these statistics speak to the importance of taking action. Often an employee perceives dissatisfaction in a customer, but chooses to ignore it and hopes that the problem will go away. However, if the customer then goes away with the problem, the customer will likely never return to the business. This trend is what hurts businesses more than anything.
“We don’t have the ability to keep people that are already happy with our product,” Waller said. “The average business spends six times more to attract new customers than it does to keep old ones. Yet customer loyalty is in most cases worth 10 times the price of a single purchase.”
The first step is recognizing tendencies toward bad customer service. But how do businesses improve their overall customer servic
When you examine the mathematics of a firefight, it’s easy to see why the big company usually wins. Let’s say that the Red squad with nine soldiers meets a Blue squad with six. Red has a 50 percent numerical superiority over the Blue. 9 versus 6. Or it could be 90 versus 60 or 9000 versus 6000. It makes no difference what the number are, the principle is the same.Let’s also say that, on the average, one out of every three shots will inflict a casualty.After the first volley, the situation will have changed drastically. Instead of a 9 to 6 advantage, Red would have a 7 to 3 advantage. From a 50 percent superiority in force to a more than 100 percent superiority.The same deadly multiplication effect continues with the passage of time.After the second volley, the score would be 6 to 1 in favor of Red.After the third volley, Blue would be wiped out completely.Notice how the casualties were divided
Most business owners and employees recognize this as a classic example of bad customer service. And yet, this scene is repeated endlessly in modern society. Negativity breeds negativity, and eventually, nobody is happy.
“Never, never, never ignore a customer,” says Art Waller, Regional Department Head for Utah State University. Waller provides tips on how to improve customer relations, a vital segment of any business.
“It’s important to be accessible,” Waller said. “Everything is an interruption. A phone rings, someone comes into an office, that’s an interruption. But if a customer is right there, do that first. That’s why you’re there.
One of the single most important aspects of a successful business is good customer service. Waller cited recent findings in customer service. A typical business only hears from 4 percent of its dissatisfied customers. The other 96 percent quietly go away. Of this 96 percent, 68 percent never reveal their dissatisfaction because they perceive an attitude of indifference in the owner, manager or employee.
Waller said this statistic is particularly dangerous for businesses because if a dissatisfied customer can’t express their complaints to a business, they’ll express them through other outlets such as friends, neighbors and family. A typical dissatisfied customer will tell eight to ten people about their problem. One in five will tell 20.
“It takes 12 positive service incidents to make up for one negative incident,” Waller said. “Seven out of ten complaining customers will do business with you again if you resolve the complaint in their favor. If you resolve it on the spot, 95 percent will do business with you again.”
Waller said these statistics speak to the importance of taking action. Often an employee perceives dissatisfaction in a customer, but chooses to ignore it and hopes that the problem will go away. However, if the customer then goes away with the problem, the customer will likely never return to the business. This trend is what hurts businesses more than anything.
“We don’t have the ability to keep people that are already happy with our product,” Waller said. “The average business spends six times more to attract new customers than it does to keep old ones. Yet customer loyalty is in most cases worth 10 times the price of a single purchase.”
The first step is recognizing tendencies toward bad customer service. But how do businesses improve their overall customer servi
Every year, many business owners choose to incorporate their companies. They may make this decision at the outset, or may arrive at it later because their business is growing and they want to shield themselves from the risks that growing businesses face. Either way, the business owners want to limit the extent to which their personal assets are at risk, should something damaging (usually, a lawsuit) arise. It's a wise move.What entrepreneurs often don't focus on, though, is the fact that, by incorporating, they have brought a new entity into the world. Much like giving birth to a child. The company now has an independent existence that can, literally, outlive you. The company has needs separate and apart from yours (such as a need to be able to pay its own bills, in addition to paying you). And if you do not treat the corporation properly as an independent "being," the privilege of shielding yourself and lim
One of the single most important aspects of a successful business is good customer service. Waller cited recent findings in customer service. A typical business only hears from 4 percent of its dissatisfied customers. The other 96 percent quietly go away. Of this 96 percent, 68 percent never reveal their dissatisfaction because they perceive an attitude of indifference in the owner, manager or employee.
Waller said this statistic is particularly dangerous for businesses because if a dissatisfied customer can’t express their complaints to a business, they’ll express them through other outlets such as friends, neighbors and family. A typical dissatisfied customer will tell eight to ten people about their problem. One in five will tell 20.
“It takes 12 positive service incidents to make up for one negative incident,” Waller said. “Seven out of ten complaining customers will do business with you again if you resolve the complaint in their favor. If you resolve it on the spot, 95 percent will do business with you again.”
Waller said these statistics speak to the importance of taking action. Often an employee perceives dissatisfaction in a customer, but chooses to ignore it and hopes that the problem will go away. However, if the customer then goes away with the problem, the customer will likely never return to the business. This trend is what hurts businesses more than anything.
“We don’t have the ability to keep people that are already happy with our product,” Waller said. “The average business spends six times more to attract new customers than it does to keep old ones. Yet customer loyalty is in most cases worth 10 times the price of a single purchase.”
The first step is recognizing tendencies toward bad customer service. But how do businesses improve their overall customer servi
Many professionals believe that their resumes are ignored because they are “missing” critical skills that an employer is seeking, and therefore they should pack every detail into the document. This kind of thinking leads job seekers to use a "general resume" because they don't want to limit themselves to only one job type.While wanting an employer to see all your qualifications is completely understandable, this type of resume is often unsuccessful. Why? Hiring managers are inundated with resumes, calls from job seekers, and new hiring requirements. They simply do not have time to read between the lines and figure out which job you are qualified for.How can you avoid this pitfall? Change a few key items to alter the impact of your resume and increase your success in winning interviews:Summarize your qualifications. It is a well-known fact that a resume objective statement is see
“It takes 12 positive service incidents to make up for one negative incident,” Waller said. “Seven out of ten complaining customers will do business with you again if you resolve the complaint in their favor. If you resolve it on the spot, 95 percent will do business with you again.”
Waller said these statistics speak to the importance of taking action. Often an employee perceives dissatisfaction in a customer, but chooses to ignore it and hopes that the problem will go away. However, if the customer then goes away with the problem, the customer will likely never return to the business. This trend is what hurts businesses more than anything.
“We don’t have the ability to keep people that are already happy with our product,” Waller said. “The average business spends six times more to attract new customers than it does to keep old ones. Yet customer loyalty is in most cases worth 10 times the price of a single purchase.”
The first step is recognizing tendencies toward bad customer service. But how do businesses improve their overall customer servi
The United States Postal Service or USPS has listened to its customers and realized the need for more convenience in postage. Giving people the option to print postage in their own home has led to a booming market for online postage companies. Besides the USPS website, there are many other authorized companies that sell online postage. Giving people the ability to print postage from their own computer has really revolutionized the world of postage.The USPS is the best known place for getting postage. In the high tech world we live in where everyone is online and every business has a website, the USPS has capitalized on this to start something new in postage. Online postage is where a customer can buy and print postage from their own computer. This eliminates the need to go to the post office or store to buy stamps. It is simple enough that anyone can do it and requires only a computer and printer - no special equipment.er, but chooses to ignore it and hopes that the problem will go away. However, if the customer then goes away with the problem, the customer will likely never return to the business. This trend is what hurts businesses more than anything.
“We don’t have the ability to keep people that are already happy with our product,” Waller said. “The average business spends six times more to attract new customers than it does to keep old ones. Yet customer loyalty is in most cases worth 10 times the price of a single purchase.”
The first step is recognizing tendencies toward bad customer service. But how do businesses improve their overall customer service? Waller offered some basic tips:
Like what you do
“If you don’t love what you do, get the heck out,” Waller said. “If you love what you do, it will be evident and people will know it.”
People who have a bad attitude about what they do will reflect their attitude onto everyone around them, including customers. Like most everything in life, good customer service always comes back to attitude.
“If you believe your customers are a pain in the butt, guess what — you’re right,” he said. “What you say, what you do, and what you think are the same thing.”
Learn to adjust your perception
Because good customer service depends on a good attitude, a bad attitude will surely diminish any facade of friendliness. Waller recommends that employees analyze what is causing their negative outlook and make a conscious effort to change, rather than cover it up with a false smile.
“How do you change a belief of certainty?” Waller asked. “You take out references and change it. Over time, it changes that belief system.”
Establish Rapport
Customers will do business with people they like. Employees gain this approval by establishing rapport, or a positive connection, with a customer. Rapport can be established by simple gestures such as calling a customer by their name, recognizing mutual interests, asking questions, and making eye contact. The customer instantly recognizes the employee as someone who cares about their well-being, and is more likely to do business with the company,
“Won’t you spend more money to go to a car dealership where you’ve been treated well?” Waller asked. “Develop a genuine interest in and admiration for your customers.”
So what happens when an employee doesn’t establish rapport? The customer automatically meets that employee with more suspicion, which leads to distrust, which leads to potential conflict.
Avoid a standoff
Many times businesses find themselves locked in an argument with a complaining customer that becomes impossible to resolve. Waller said the way to prevent this is to avoid the argument in the first place. His advice is to step back, analyze where the customer is coming from, and form a solution from their standpoint, not yours.
“I never fought with them,” Waller said. “In fact, I went into a dance with them. You’ve got to dance with them. You have the empathize, and get into their world.”
Be reliable, be responsive and be credible
Local cable and utility companies are a prime example businesses that do not possess these qualities, Waller said. When a customer calls up in need of service, the
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