What Makes You Exceptional?

Episode 30: Social Media and Customer Service

it has been awhile since I recorded a podcast episode of More than a Few Words, but things have started to settle down in the office, I bought a new portable recording device, a new computer, and I have time to start working on weekly podcast again.

Today’s topic: Customer Service and Social Media.   I don’t think good companies are changing their service levels, but I think they are using new tools to improve their response times.  … and companies who are not as good as they should be are discovering that consumers have power!

To listen to the podcast click here.

Bad Customer Service is Worse PR

Dear AT&T:

You lied to me. After my boss and I spent a combined two hours on the phone with unhelpful customer service reps, I turned to a forum where I thought  I could get help: Twitter. I knew you tweeted customer service assistance, and it seemed a fair court of last resort.

Wrong.

Now, you might think it’s strange that I’m writing this letter instead of my boss, Lorraine, who actually pays the bills. But there are two reasons: first, her husband, Andy, works for AT&T. Second, her blood pressure is still sky-high from dealing with you.

AT&T, why did you ignore me? You were so good at first, quickly getting in touch after the initial tweet and promising a call “soon.” Two hours passed. No call. I reminded you. You promised a call “soon.” When I left the office at 5:15, nearly four hours after the initial promise, there was still only silence from you.

Bad move, AT&T. Not only is it awful customer service, but it’s terrible PR. It looks like you’ve only jumped onto Twitter customer service because it’s the hot new thing (companies like Discount Tire use it splendidly), not because you actually care about delivering customer service in this new format. I see it as a cold, calculating PR move with no substance to back it up. And PR should always, always have substance and truth behind it.

I don’t trust you, AT&T. I was neutral towards you before, but your poor service, both on the phone and on Twitter, has moved me to open hostility. I will now do my best to avoid your products at all cost. All because of one poorly executed PR move.

Don’t call us, and I won’t call you.

Sincerely,

Allison.

Jump Start Your Business: Getting Rid of Bad Customers

Sometimes, you need to fire a client for the greater good of your business. This is a hard lesson to learn, but something that every small business owner must acknowledge to keep themselves and their team sane. As we continue our examination of Inc. Magazine’s 25 Ways to Jump Start Your Business, we’ll try to understand why it’s sometimes necessary.

I know, it seems completely counter intuitive for you to fire someone who gives you money. But sometimes, it’s just not worth it. There are clients who simply demand more than you can deliver. You end up trying to stretch yourself thin to accommodate their needs.  They’re unhappy because you aren’t giving your best service. Ultimately, it’s best for both of you to part ways.

In other cases, these problems extend beyond a mismatch of demands and resources to a client who’s simply abusive. Unfortunately, there are nasty people in the world. If someone is cursing at you over the phone, reducing your staff members to tears on a regular basis, and making your life a general hell, all the money in the world isn’t worth it. Ask if it’s better to have a demoralized, exhausted team and keep one client, or to have a happy team that can give better service and drum up new clients?

This isn’t to say that you shouldn’t make every effort to work through your issues with a client and to leave on good terms. But sometimes, you simply need to let them go–for your own good.

Raising the Bar on Customer Service

What do you do to keep customers coming back?   According to Seth Godin, what was once conidered incredible, is now run of the mill. The challenge to small business owners in a comptitive market is finding new ways to surprise and delight your customers.

Nick Carter of AddressTwo does that on a regular basis.   Continually working on new features for the software, Nick has added a WishList feature to the user screen.  Now, any user can suggest improvements, and vote on the suggestions of others.  New features with the most votes, get attention first. Nick is truly creating customer focused software.

My favorite eye doctor, Dr. Jeremy Ciano at Revolution-Eyes always has fresh coffee and Godiva Chocolate while you wait.   Makes stopping by lots of fun.

What do you do that is exceptional or surprising?  If you can’t think of anything, it is time to work on your unique selling proposition.    Remember customers have choices, and they rarely choose on just price.

Mistakes are Unimportant, Handling Them Well is All That Counts!

Mistakes happen! What defines your business is what you do as a result. Do you quote policy, apologize, or act?  Jackie Huba has some interesting suggestions for Best Buy when they ran out of a popular promotion item.  She says:

Turning bad buzz into good takes fast, creative thinking, a sense of humor, and a willingness    to happily eat virtual crow. Best Buy could put everyone who ordered the TV into a drawing then give away 10 of them. Or 100. Then they could even deliver the sets, with TV cameras rolling, and have their Geek Squad members install them for free.

How much would Jackie’s suggestions really cost Best Buy? The cost of surprising and delighting customers is nothing in comparison to what the negative publicity will cost.  The difference, the positive, proactive expense is controllable, the negative cost isn’t.

When things don’t go as planned, how do you react?

Sometimes, You Need To Fire a Customer

With small businesses still being buffeted by a sluggish economy, we need to keep every customer we have, right? However, recently I have seen a number of articles making a valid case for doing just the opposite, getting rid of, or stopping to pay attention to customers who are a drain on your systems, and worse yet annoying your good customers.

Here a few examples I have seen recently:

Jackie Huba writes about the The Alamo Drafthouse in Texas.  They will ask noisy patrons to leave because they destroy the experience for others.  If they allowed it to continue, the other patrons would chose not to return.  She says:

If you stand with your best customers at the expense of the bad ones, you’ll win bigger. The customer is always right — if it’s the right customer.

The same day I read Jackie’s column, I found one by Erik Deckers about another  Texas company,  Southwest Airlines.  They are known for doing everything possible to make the flights comfortable and fun, but a screaming child just isn’t fun.  So, on a recent flight, they booted Pamela Root and her 2-year-old son Adam off their flight in Amarillo, Texas, after he continually screams “Go! Plane! Go!” and “I want Daddy!”

And before you begin believing this trend is just a “Texas” thing, check out the case Seth Godin makes for focusing on your best cusomters. He says:

Every industry has people who are worth more, buzz more, care more and buy more than other people. Don’t treat people the same, find the ones that matter more to you, and hug them.

So have you hugged your best customers lately?

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PROMOTION: Have you structured your marketing budget to focus on your best clients and referral sources?   Learn how in our 90 minute workshop: Marketing by the Numbers Tuesday, November 10

Work While You Sleep

As a small business owner, there are always so many things on my to do list.    Running the business, delivering projects to clients, working with my staff, meeting with prospects, sending proposals, networking, etc.   Sometimes I wish I could clone myself, or work while I sleep.

This week, Barb Jones, of  Stellar Infusionsoft Coaching explains how CRM tools allow a small business to do just that!

Barb explains that contact management software lets you keep track of prospects and clients, but a CRM system allows you to automate the process.  Now you can stay in touch with clients while you are sleeping or working on other projects.  It also allows you to send relevant content to a small group with common interests.

At Roundpeg, we are experimenting with CRM tools and have found the results to be very positive. Our How to Write a Business Plan in Ten Weeks program is fueled by a CRM tool.   We have several people a week enrolling in the program and each person enjoys the benefits of the entire program regardless of when they start.

We are going to look at other applications as well. What about you? Do you use a CRM tool today?

How to Lose a Customer

by Erica Gardner

There are several ways to keep your customers on board with you for a very long time.  There are also several ways for you to lose customers.

Recently, we were working with a client to rebuild his website on a WordPress platform.  He was tired of the unresponsive service he was getting from his current web support team and wanted greater control over his web updates.

We make these conversions for existing websites on a regular basis, and have worked with a number of companies on the transition.  Most of my peers both locally, and around the country understand websites move on a regular basis, and make the transition as easy as possible.

Obviously,  The Computer Shop in Brownsburg, hasn’t learned this.  What should have taken an hour took several weeks to complete.  While we were annoyed, we began to understand why their client wanted to leave them as quickly as possible.

Here are just a few of the  reasons why they lost a valuable customer:

• Never answering the phone
• Never calling us back when a message was left
• Screening their calls so they wouldn’t have to talk to us
• Not giving us the correct information we needed

In the end, they lost a very client because of their poor customer service.  While they may not miss one client, when he, and the team at Roundpeg share our experiences, it is likely they will miss opportunities for other clients.

Seth Godin had an interesting post on a related topic, entitled, Win the Fight, Lose the Customer. In it he explains

“The customer is always right” doesn’t mean that they’d win in court or a debate. It means, “If you want the customer to remain a customer, you need to permit him to believe he’s right.”

I think this behavior should extend, when possible, even if you think you are going to lose the customer.  You never know, if down the road they may want to return or talk to a prospect about you.

Clearly, the Computer Shop in Brownsburg is so busy digging trenches, they will lose both the fight and the war.

Customer Service Begins With Your Front Line

Are the people who touch your customers most often empowered to make good service decisions on your behalf?

The other day I was in a parking garage, attached to a hotel, which had an automated payment machine.  I put in my ticket and my credit card, and should have been charged $8.00

When my receipt came out, I was charged $23 for two hours of parking.  And while this may be the going rate in cities like New York, Chicago or LA, this is quite a bit more than we typically pay for a parking spot in Indianapolis, Indiana.  And so, knowing I had been overcharged, I took my ticket and my receipt and walked inside the hotel to secure a refund.

I approached the registration desk and explained what had happened to the woman behind the counter.  She looked at me as if I had landed from another planet.  Clearly she was unaware there was a parking garage attached to the hotel in which she worked and was absolutely clueless as to what she should do about my problem.

After a few moments, I asked if there was someone else who could help me.  She went off, and found someone who was aware of the parking garage.  The second woman took my credit card, and wandered off again.  Despite the fact that they had several credit card terminals at the desk, and a cash drawer, my $15 refund had to be processed elsewhere.

At this point, I had invested more than 20 minutes for a $15 refund, and I was beginning to wonder if it was really worth the continued wait, but she had my credit card, so I stayed.

She returned, with lots of paper work, my credit card, and a new ticket I could use to exit the garage.  While I should have been grateful for her efforts, under this incredibly stupid system, I was just annoyed.  With lots of downtown parking, it is unlikely I will choose this garage again.

What about you?  Are your systems designed to allow your front line to respond to customer requests quickly?  Do they know how to handle unusual situations and keep customers coming back?

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