Landlord M.I.A.
My niece and her roommates ran into a serious case of landlord M.I.A this winter. Half the rooms of their house were not getting any heat. Despite multiple email requests to the management company it was more than one month before the owner finally came to inspect the home and resolve the issue.
Upon arrival, the landlord was shocked by the temperature. He was also extremely embarrassed of the entire situation. By failing to respond promptly, he let his customers reside in an unsafe environment. Putting his ethics and company into question and possibly left himself open to legal issues.
His procrastination provided the girls a steady stream of negative feedback about him and his company which they shared daily through social media, reaching thousands of people including other students who might be potential future tenants.
Service Problems Can’t Wait
Companies rarely have the time or resources to spend days resolving customer service problems. More importantly, customers expect issues to be handled within 24 to 48 hours. With this in mind, interactions need to be straightforward and helpful to everyone involved to best solve the problem.
1) Be a Good Listener: Listen to every word the customer has to say as well as the emotion behind the words. Remember the details and do not discount anything especially the emotional impact on the customer. You need to see their perspective on the situation. Additionally, understanding how the problem made a customer feel is crucial to create a productive long-term solution.
2) Be Productive: Make the best use of your time. Pinpoint the problem and the best way to work toward finding an answer. Don’t just absorb the information being given, but solve it as quickly as possible.
3) Be Proactive: DO NOT wait to take care of the problem. Customers will become increasingly angry. Waiting a few days or even a few hours can be the difference between reviving confidence in a customer and losing them forever. Keep customers in the loop and let them know when to expect the situation to be resolved. By acting quickly the customer will be happy and both parties will save time by not reiterating the story or playing phone tag for days.
Stop procrastination. It is better for you, your business and most importantly your customers!
Categorized in: Blog, Customer Service, Small Business
Comments are closed here.