If you’ve been in business any length of time you’ve no doubt heard about “The Know, Like And Trust Factor”. Business relationships develop as the customer gets to know you, they come to like you and you gain their trust. However, with poor client care it can actually work in reverse, resulting in dislike and loss of trust leading to poor customer retention. Ouch! Don’t let this be you. It’s easier to retain great clients than to continually work at attracting new ones.
As a customer, I’ve received a lot of quality customer service and developed great business relationships. Inevitably mistakes and misunderstandings will happen, but it’s how those situations are handled that will make the difference.
I hope poor service isn’t becoming a growing trend! My longtime client and good friend, Chef Selwyn Richards, made this observation in his newsletter about a company’s disreputable practices. He says, “…My hope is that we’ll revisit the model of credibility where both parties respect and honour each other’s obligations. My personal motto is ‘Always strive for excellence!'” I’m fortunate to be able to support business owners that all have high standards and run their businesses with integrity.
I’ve also been at the receiving end of not so great customer service from a particular service provider. Here’s my story with examples of the poor service I’ve received, each followed by one or more of “The 7 Rules Of Great Customer Service” that apply to those situations. I developed these rules as a result of those negative experiences and to demonstrate how us business owners can better handle our client relations, build and maintain great relationships and grow our businesses. The rules work to help prevent things from going wrong and are especially important for those times when inevitably something does goes wrong.
When my daughters were young and in grade school, they had a talent agent for a few years. Although they didn’t aspire to have a career in the industry or become actors, they enjoyed performing so when the opportunity came up I saw it as a fun learning experience and if they got some work from it, great. Auditioning landed them a couple of small jobs. They met some interesting people; some famous, some not yet and learned about the work that goes on behind the scenes, the many pieces that have to come together and the way people in various roles work collaboratively on projects to create an end result. For my girls it was a positive experience. On the other hand, for me in my dealings with the agent whose role it was to find and recommend jobs, set up auditions and communicate information to me; it was a learning experience as well – how NOT to handle customer service.
When we initially started to work with the agent, one of the requirements was to get professional head shots. I was informed that the agent insists the photographer gives a discount for updates. When our updates were booked and I inquired about the promised discounted rate, I was informed that the photographers’ rates had increased. The promised discount was not honoured.
Rule #1: Be Trustworthy – Be True To Your Word – Don’t Make Promises Unless You Can Keep Them
It’s a very last minute business which is just the nature of the way the industry works. So when an audition comes up you usually hear about it the day before. One afternoon I was informed that my daughter had an audition the next day at 7:30. I responded asking the agent to confirm my assumption that the audition would be ‘am not pm’ to which I received the reply ‘Yes’. We had been to early morning shoots, so an early morning audition didn’t seem odd. Can you guess what happened? We arrived the next morning and the doors were locked. After attempts were made to get in touch with the agent, I received a 2-letter text hours later that read ‘Pm’. When I inquired further as to what might have happened there was no reply. I followed up asking for clearer communication in future to which I did receive a response. The agent indicated that auditions never occur at that time of day and reluctantly agreed to indicate pm in future emails, even though they’ve never had a need to do this in their many years in the business. There was no acknowledgement of the error, no apology for the inconvenience, lost time or travel expense.
Rule #2: Take Ownership Of Mistakes And Misunderstandings – Make The Customers’ Problem Your Problem – Deal With Problems And Reassure – Do What You Can To Rectify A Problem, Don’t Hope It Will ‘Go Away’ By Not Addressing It – Deliver A Simple, Genuine Apology At The Appropriate Time
Rule #3: Educate Without Talking Down To Your Customer – Don’t Assume They Know (or should know) Specific Information Around Your Areas Of Expertise (our clients do not always understand and appreciate what we do) – Knowledge Gives Them The Opportunity To Work With You Cooperatively
Rule #4: Be Kind, Considerate And Respectful – Lose The Superior Attitude – Look At Things From The Customers’ Perspective
I had several outstanding emails responding to the agents request for information that required the agent to review and provide feedback or take action. Communication was often not responded to or acknowledged. Most emails contained at least one spelling or grammatical error or inaccuracy of information which raised questions and concerns for me.
Rule #5: Show Care And Concern In Your Actions – Acknowledge Receipt Of Messages And Respond Or Provide Feedback Where Required
Rule #6: Be Accurate And Thorough With Your Information – Don’t Rush Because You’re ‘So Busy’ – Get Help If You’re Too Busy To Do It All Yourself
Rule #7: Be A Good Communicator, Friendly And Helpful – People Remember How You Treat Them
It has been said that “The Way You Do Anything is the Way You Do Everything”. Negative customer service experiences with a company tend to cause customers to lack confidence in the company’s ability to do the work.
Does this business owner just have too much on their plate? Are they trying to do it all? Yes, we can do a lot, but we can’t do it all. Sometimes hiring and training the right assistant is all it takes to change the whole customer experience.
As business owners we may forget what it is like to be on the other side of our business – the client side. Whether you call it client care, customer service or client relations, it is a good idea to review what great customer service looks like to ensure you continue to build solid, long-term and mutually beneficial business relationships with your clients and customers. Without them you have no business!