In the last several years, we have become much more conscious of consumers’ rights. Many lament the loss of one-to-one contact with customer service staff as more businesses rely on electronic communication to interact with their clients. It is, therefore, relevant to ask ourselves: Are we being served?
One has to start by identifying some irritants most customers find increasingly unacceptable. Indeed, one of the most common complaints of customers trying to contact their service providers is the long wait on the phone.
If you opt to speak to a human being, it may take several minutes of waiting with often annoying music played in the background. Public services providers, like banks, have become notorious for taking ages to respond to urgent phone calls from customers.
Equally annoying is the failure to acknowledge e-mails within a reasonable time, which should never be more than 24 hours, even if a complete answer to a complex customer query may take longer. Speed is not the most critical factor in customer support. But being passed around from one support agent to another is an avoidable and unnecessary frustration. Even more irritating is being told that the person who could answer your query is out on leave, and you can only get a reply when they return.
Good customer service is not always about knowing the correct answer. Often it is about finding the right solution, so the customer does not have to. Being told by a customer service agent: “I do not know how to resolve your problem, but I will find out for you”, is one of the most potent phrases in customer service.
Rudeness is one of the most toxic human behaviours of both customers and those who should be serving them. We all hate it when people are rude to us. But what we rarely think about is that sometimes the way that we say things might come off as rude, even if we do not mean it that way. How often do we get a fake and insensitive apology when we complain about the delays in getting the service that we need. Why are we expected to believe that the delay is justified because the service providers are busy?
It must be emphasised that the saying that ‘the customer is always right’ should not be interpreted literally. Some customers may have every reason to feel angry at how they are treated. Good customer care staff know the best way to limit the damage to their reputation when they admit they have failed their clients. They will always apologise. They can then offer free products or give a refund or discount.
We all hate it when people are rude to us
As hard as many customer support agents work to make experiences great, some customers work even harder to make them awful. Customers with an irrational sense of self-importance threaten staff or try to ridicule them with rude, disrespectful, or sarcastic comments. No company needs the custom of such idiots. While customer service staff are often trained not to get defensive in such circumstances, their supervisors or managers must intervene to stop such abuse on their workers.
Angry customers, who are likely to be rude, are also likely to lie. Customer service agents working for an insurance company often have to deal with dud claims from clients who pretend to be angry because they did not get the compensation they wrongfully expected. Similarly, some clients return goods they have damaged because they did not follow instructions and expect a refund or a replacement to which they are not entitled.
A customer care strategy that respects the rights of customers and service providers is not easy to define. Most customers have expectations, and the better companies see eye-to-eye on how to meet them. They often achieve the crucial objective of a good reputation and high staff morale.
A few customers have demands it is nearly impossible even to get eye-to-eye with to try and resolve their problems. Even if you try to align expectations, some customers will demand more.
Better businesses rely steadfastly on the expectations they set, such as timeliness, effective processes that deliver quality service and high relationship standards.
When they do this, they do not ever have to tell their complaining customers “it is our policy”. They refer to their consistent customer care standards and how they use them to treat all customers fairly.