Bad Customer Service: An Opportunity to Shine
I always tell my clients they should never fear customer complaints. When customers voice their complaints it’s not a bad thing, in fact, it’s a great thing because it’s an opportunity to prove that you stand behind your product and service.
When a customer complains and the company fixes the problem quickly and easily, chances are you will have that customer for life; because hardly anyone does it. The most dangerous situation for a company is to have a customer with a complaint who doesn’t voice it. These customers, in most cases, just go away, never buy from you again and you have no idea why.
Luckily for Spice Street, a local restaurant my wife and I frequent often for dinner, we believe in voicing our complaints (I’m sure that shocks you).
Three weeks ago my wife and I went to Sunday Brunch at Spice Street for the first time and loved it! We were so impressed I decided the whole family would go there for the special Mother’s Day Brunch: big mistake.
First off, I should have known better. I hate going out on special holidays (Mother’s and Father’s day; Memorial weekend, 4th of July; New Year’s Eve, etc.). In New York City, we used to call those days “Amateur Night." Every place is crowded and the prices are always jacked up.
Well, Spice Street was no different. The place was packed; the prices were doubled, but worst of all, the menu was lousy (the one thing I wanted, they ran out of right away). Bottom line: It was twice the price and not even half as good as the first time.
The next day, Linda wrote a letter to the manager, Said. By Thursday he called to apologize and invited us to brunch, on him, whenever we feel like it. We’ll be there this coming Sunday.
I can understand people and companies screwing up. What I can’t understand is when they do nothing about it. For the price of one free meal, along with his quick response, Said bought our loyalty. Why doesn’t everyone do that? Isn’t satisfying an existing customer far cheaper and easier than spending thousands of dollars on advertising and marketing to find a new one?
I could not agree more. I am in boat sales. I love it when a customer voices a complaint or a concern with the product or the sales process. it allows me to pro-actively approach each of these hurdles and get right to the heart of the issue at hand. Taking an honest and straightforward approach is the best way to earn credibility with a client. Discovering and overcoming objections is how a salesperson gets to the ultimate objective…. the close. If customers are not encouraged to voice concern and objections we may have smooth interactions, but not quality interactions. Too many salespeople are afraid of what is really on their customer's mind, or of the taboo word "no" that they fail to ASK. And this is reflected in a failure to …sell.
Thanks for the weekly emails. I love the encouragement it gives me when i start off my day.
-Chris
Chris,
Thank you for the insightful comment. I love that phrase, "If customers are not encouraged to voice concern and objections we may have smooth interactions, but not quality interactions." That gets right to the point. And you're right again when you say salespeople are afraid to hear what's on a customer's mind. What they don't understand is: if they don't allow the customer to express their frustration, they'll just take it, and their business, elsewhere.