Full-Size Service
As a kid, I knew the best houses to stop at while trick or treating. The ones with friendly people, houses that were fun and welcoming, and especially the ones who gave full-size candy bars! When we ran into our friends while we were trick or treating, we told them what houses to be sure to go to and what ones to skip. We even remembered our experiences the following year! Customers are looking for full-size service.
Customers act much the same way as trick or treaters. They look for friendly, welcoming businesses that provide a full-size equivalent of products or services. Customers have power and they talk. They share where their experiences and influence their friends’ choices. They also remember their experiences for a long time, making it hard to win them back after a bad experience.
Frightening Costs of Poor Customer Service
- The #1 reason customers switch to a new brand is feeling unappreciated.
- $1.6 trillion is lost by American companies due to customers experiencing poor customer service and switching to competitors.
- It takes a customer 12 positive experiences to redeem one unresolved negative experience.
Some of the most important interactions customers have throughout their journey with your business are the ones with your customer-facing team. This team is the voice that represents your company and their impact is enormous!
Businesses are out of touch with what their customers think. A study found that 88% of businesses believe they deliver a superior customer experience but only 8% of their customers agree. Why such a huge difference in perception? The answer may be found by looking more closely at the customer-facing interactions. Are they scaring away customers?
Chilling Customer Service Stats
- 66% of customers switch companies due to poor service.
- 67% of customers hang up the phone in frustration when they can’t reach a customer service representative.
- 72% of customers say that explaining their problems to multiple people is poor customer service.
- 50% of the time, the customer service representative couldn’t answer questions.
- 79% of consumers who used feedback to complain about poor customer experience online were ignored.
Providing Full-Size Kind of Service
When employees are not well-equipped to interact with customers, they give a fun-size kind of service. Provide them with on-going training, information, and tools to deliver consistently high-quality service—the full-size kind of service.
Employees need more than scripted responses to effectively interact with customers. They need an understanding of the business and should be represented in company-wide initiatives. Their insights into front line customer interactions can improve outcomes and avoid costly mistakes.
Customers share feedback in a variety of ways. The most common way is in the daily interactions they have with employees. Tap into the wealth of information these employees have about customers. They see where customers get stuck, have questions, or need help. They also hear complaints as well as compliments. Establish a way for employees to share their insights.
Give customers an easy way to provide real-time feedback. Acknowledge their feedback and thank them for taking the time to share their thoughts. The insights they share are valuable to your business. Most importantly, act on their feedback. Customers recognize when problems are fixed (or not).
Just like trick or treaters have the choice of stopping at your house or not, customers have the choice of doing business with you. If your customer-facing team delivers frightening service, your business outcomes, your company reputation, and the bottom line will be negatively impacted.
Peoplocity is a customer experience company. We provide a business messaging platform that connects businesses to their customers. Interested in learning more about Peoplocity? Click here to schedule a short demo of the platform and learn more about how it can be customized to fit your needs.
Categorized in: Consumer Experience, Customer Service
