Every once in a while an entrepreneur understands that it is sometimes smarter to get taken advantage of by a client, than it is to argue with the client to try to prove a point about who is wrong.
Saying “we had a contract” is crap. When you pull out a contract, the relationship is dead. And the word of mouth starts…
Negative word of mouth travels a lot faster than good word of mouth.
My advice – Take the high road, the view is a lot better from up there.
I’ve started to get tired of hearing CEOs raving about their customer service. Our call center team is great. We answer calls quickly. Our online chat is busier than ever. Our customers rate our customer service team an XYZ… Our cost to handle customer calls is at the industry average…
Who gives a shit cares?
The reality is, if your products were awesome, if your services rocked, if your website was crystal clear, then your customers wouldn’t EVER have to call customer service. Companies truly doing it right, don’t need teams as large as yours.
One metric to consider. Start trying to get this number as close to zero as possible – Customer Service Cost / Revenue. Think of the increased margins you’d have.
How often do you call the customer service group at Amazon…
Perhaps it’s time to start thinking that customer service sucks. Inspire your leadership team to ask the right questions, and really dig into the core issues. Perhaps you can really start to inspect what you expect at your product level. You’ll uncover areas to improve and thereby eliminate customer service teams completely.
Thoughts ?
(Guest Post by Mike Faith, CEO Headsets.com)
See if this chimes with your call center experience.
You’re trying to get help from someone who seems to only be concerned with barely walking you through a series of steps. You can hear the click of their computer keyboard as they ‘process’ you.
They don’t fully understand what you’re saying and they can’t get to grips with a problem that may be slightly out of the ordinary, or not covered by the script on their computer monitor. Meanwhile, time passes, blood pressure rises and it would require something extraordinary to convert your frustration into a desire to deal with that company ever again.
Customer service often leaves a lot to be desired. Most CEOs find their call center to be an expense rather than an investment. I suggest you change that. I’ll quickly explain.
I run one of Americas highest quality, and possibly most expensive, call centers. Back in 1996, I decided to take a risk and start investing heavily on Customer Service. Our sales started to rise, repeat business increased, average sales value doubled and our profits increased. During the past 15 years, I’ve learned how Customer service done properly can be one of the best value-for-money sales tools ever invented. Your Customer Service is one of the most important touch points between your company and your future business.
Our Headsets.com Customer Service reps in San Francisco and Nashville are some of the best trained and highest paid in the US today. And we receive a pay back on this investment. Next time you think Customer Service, I hope that my experience helps you to change your mind-set. Rather than think cost, think quality of care for your Customers…Think of the unbreakable link between sowing service and reaping sales…Think how judicious investment, not too little, not too much, will positively impact your business.
Fifteen years of experience of running my own in-house call center, in one of the most expensive parts of the world, tells me you’ll find a big payoff by investing right.
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