FRAM SYSTEMS ^blog

?“Your call is important to us, please stay on the line for the next available…”

OK, how many of you have heard that? Here’s the words: “Your call is important to us”, here’s what you’re thinking: “Oh yeah? Then how come you are making me wait and listen to these irritating commercials and awful music”. Give me a break. If my they considered my call important they would have made sure I got what I wanted or needed. Their words say I’m important, their actions say I’m a nuisance. And what speaks louder than words?

So why the rant? Just about every client of size that I deal with has had the attitude that customer service is an expense, a cost that does nothing but diminish their bottom line. After all, those customer service reps and call center are expensive. There’s no doubt about that.

Let’s look at things a little differently. What if we could transform that call center and those reps into a profit center? Would you feel better about spending for them?

No matter what business you’re in, no matter what you do to produce income there’s one thing that you will have and must have: customers. Even if you’re flipping burgers you have a customer, in this case the fast food restaurant. Customers are just unavoidable. Gotta have ‘em to make money. So why not make them, your customers, into your advocates and into your ‘unpaid’ sales force?

Look, the customer is not always right, but neither is the business. Here’s what happens when we treat treat our customer, some who has already trusted us enough to spend their money with us, as if they are wrong. For the sake of argument, let’s just say they are wrong. They’ve used our product improperly, damaged it and now it doesn’t work. They still have a need for it and, if we can’t fill that need for them, they might have to buy another and they may just buy it from our competition. Can you afford that?

You may think that this customer is a ‘bad’ customer. After all, he misused the our product and expects us to care for him anyway. How much does a guy like that mean to us? Maybe he should buy from our competition! Customers like that will drive us broke! Good riddance!

Great, you failed, this time with full intent, to satisfy your ‘bad’ customer. Now what is he going to think about your company and what’s worse, what is he going to say about you? According to author Pete Blackshaw an angry customer tells 3,000 people, or more about the perceived mistreatment they got from your company. Another point Blackshaw makes is that in these days of social networking that number of 3,000 could be low. Bad news travels fast. Here’s something else to think about, who has more influence with purchasers of your product or service, you, your advertising and PR agencies or other users of the type of product or service you provide and your current and past customers?

You simply can’t afford to make enemies out of the people you worked hard to get. Even if your business doesn’t sell to consumers, in making your sale people are ALWAYS part of the equation. You have to treat them all well, no matter whether you like them or not, they’re the most profitable or not, or even whether your product or service is not a good fit for them or not, you go about making enemies.

So how do we turn those pesky customers into a profit center and a sales force for us? Try this. Its just one word, but an important one: Listen.

That’s right, all you have to do is listen. Listen for what your customer wants and then give it to them. It sounds simple and it really is. Even though the customer may not be right, act as is he is. Listen attentively. I like to tell clients that we should treat our customers as if they are our friends and accord them the respect and compassion we would give our closest friends. Do not assume an adversarial role with your customer, it will only make then angry. Here’s the important task: ask what exactly what it would take to make the customer happy and listen for the answer. Often what the customer may want is not feasible or practical or even possible. It’s highly likely that the customers knows they are being unreasonable. Its much like the bargaining tactic of starting high to end up where you want to get. Just listen and offer a reasonable alternative. Eventually you and the customer will end up at a place where he is perfectly satisfied and he will feel that you went out of your way to help. Keep in mind that losing a little money on one transaction with the customer can end up winning you more sales with that customer and they can bring you more customer in the process.

Here’s how that works. Do a favor and ask for a favor in return. Say a customer’s request is on the ridiculous side like demanding an employee be fired asking for a very expensive product or service as compensation for their trouble. Find out if an apology from the offending employee will suffice or what other option you have to remunerate an irate customer. Make a deal. Say, if we can do this for you will you be satisfied with our company? Will you send us a testimonial about how we were able to make things right? Will you post a positive review of our company on a website like epinions.com  or other social networking site. Ask them to send proof of their posts and reward them for their effort in a simple and meaningful way with coupons or other incentives for them to bring more business to you. Make them feel good about how they were treated and they will treat you well by buying more and bringing others to buy from you.

Be imaginative about how you train your support and service staff so that they are tuned into the fact that they are not themselves; Bill, Nancy, Ralph or Teddy, but the face, voice and personality of your company. Make sure they don’t dare disrespect any customer. Keep them alert for opportunities to sell to those same customers. Make customer service your sales force.