I refuse to be one of those people who’s jaded and negative. I’m the person who goes to great lengths to make sure the manager of a restaurant knows when their bathroom needs attention or equally, if it looks nice. I’ll always make an effort to let someone know when I receive superior service. Many people only reserve the dreaded, “may I speak with your manager” for negative feedback…me, I like to share the good stuff. Conversely, I will go out of my way to communicate poor customer service to someone who can impact future experiences.
Over the past 4 months I have spent a total of 6 hours on the phone with Verizon customer service…what does customer service even mean if they’re at risk of losing me as a customer because I’m not getting any service? Needless to say, I’m not very happy with the outcome and I seriously had to walk away from the phone before I blew a gasket…I could not believe what I was hearing.
Without boring you with the details the verdict is: big phone conglomerate 1; Fortner 0. They’re right, I’m wrong (reference You Can’t Win ’em All for a laugh). And, according to Ms. Congeniality on the phone, it doesn’t really matter what my notes say, their notes “don’t lie.” That’s it! 48 minutes into this last conversation she basically informed me that I was mistaken and apparently confused about what actually took place the three previous months…because it’s not “in her notes!”
I’m a GREAT customer. I always brag about my positive experiences and rally friends to that particular store, service or restaurant. I’m a big tipper and a loyal consumer. I’m what you would call a satisfied consumer who knows how she likes to be treated. I am not hard to satisfy. But one thing I’ve learned by being on the other end of customer service is that even satisfied customers don’t make loyal customers. I know, because I’m leaving Verizon after five years of being a “satisfied” customer.
With my career at least, I consider a truly loyal customer as one that can’t imagine doing business with anyone but me. They end up being my best advertiser because they’ve become advocates for what I do. AND if you’re lucky, they’ll even bore their friends with stories of how great you are! Businesses don’t FIND loyal customers, they MAKE them!
The funny thing about customer loyalty is that there is a direct correlation to positive customer service and repeat business. “Duh,” you say but believe it or not many workers and companies believe it’s enough to earn your business, the rest is left to fate, attrition or that it’s someone else’s concern. It’s not really as much that I’m loyal to my restaurants, businesses and services…it’s that they’re loyal to me! Man, does that sound completely self-absorbed or what? Whatever the case, it should be all about me—and the many “me’s” I represent. I’m not a number, I’m not “just a customer” and if I represent the majority, a company could be in trouble if we all walked away from a five year relationship. What happened to the old adage, “the customer is always right?” Hmm, must not have been “in the notes.”
Back in 2006, I decided that it was my responsibility to provide my staff with the tools to make our customers loyal, repeat customers. I created my own list of “non-negotiables” that I try to follow in my client interaction:
- Everyone we interact with—whether co-worker, vendor or client—IS OUR CUSTOMER
- We are all responsible for their loyalty
- We never say, “I can’t,” without first exhausting all creative ideas
- We are committed to creating a better experience
- We are committed to learning new systems and procedures to better assist each other and our customers
- We will spend the time that is necessary to understand the question in order to provide a creative solution
- We appreciate our customers because they chose US
- We are committed to creating experiences for our customers that they might be willing to pay for.
And those bullets are also my guideline for how I expect to be treated. Make a list of non-negotiables for your business; it may mean the difference between winning or losing a great customer.
Hey Verizon, can you hear me now?
This is a great reminder. I think we can all see from the “United Breaks Guitars” video that a company who delivers poor customer service does so at their own peril in the age of social media. The “customer” may know how to create viral videos, or they may just be a blogger!
Great article on customer service. And Carol’s comments also are a great reminder of the importance of good customer service in this age of social media. I’m going to refer this article to my Home Biz Notes readers.
This really cracked me up, Chrysty, and unfortunately hit close to home.
When I decided to leave TMobile (terrible roaming reception)I went to Verizon and walked right out. The people who worked there felt like robots to me. Blank stares. False smiles. Walking in circles, clipboard in hands. No thanks.
Over the last FIVE months I have been trying to straighten something out with Chase Paymentech, the credit card processing arm of Chase bank.
What a nightmare. I think I logged over 50 hours on the phone with them, each time talking to another “agent” (agent of confusion) and getting nowhere but more and more frustrated. Even my banker at the real-live bank couldn’t get through to them! Finally resolved. Took years off my life.
I had another “customer service” person at another company (whose name I have blissfully forgotten)actually tell me they had no “suggestion box” and there was no way to give feedback!
This is a problem that stems all the way from upper management.
Customer service needs to be taught, especially to younger employees who are more accustomed to being just a number and not a REAL person with valid needs and expectations.
Keep educating!
That’s what those of us notice can do!
Cindy Morris, msw
Priestess Entrepreneur
http://www.SuccessPriestess.blogspot.com
Oh man!
Can I EVER sympathize. Nowadays I’m surprised when I receive common human decency from a customer sales rep, nevermind any actual SERVICE.
Sad to say but I bet Verizon DOES hear you now. Compnies are only interested in their customers once they take to the web to complain or when they’re about to cancel their services.
grrrr!!
Thanks for the thoughts…it’s good to strike a chord and hear such great feedback to the ever-declining customer service epidemic. C.
I really felt your frustrations with Verizon. You were more eloquent than you think. I have felt the same scornful degradation with Verizon, Sprint, Embarq, and Adobe. Why they spend so much money on advertising to manipulate people into using their services only to treat their customers like dishonorable clowns is beyond me. Maybe the fact that these groups all require lengthy contracts explains things. They lock customers in and then treat them as unwanted step-children to be ignored. I bet you ARE a GREAT customer. The fact that Verizen not only ignored you but scorned you, because it was “not in her notes,” exposes their disdain.
Will they change? No! They can buy politicians to pass laws that create monopolies to protect themselves. Sprint, Embarq, and Adobe were NOT my choices for vendors. I was forced into using all of them, and they knew it. Verizon follows the same model. Their “Customer Service” groups were nicknamed “Customer Disservice” and “Customer Disconnect.” But, I too have found ways to avoid these groups.
Stick with your list on Non-negotiables, it will help you MAKE loyal customers. Eventually the Verizon’s of the world will learn. GM, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, Chrysler, Bear Sterns, AIG, and many other Customer Disservice based companies failed for the same reason Verizon will fail as well.
Some of these big companies think it is OK to treat the customers who don’t bring them much revenue as a waste of time. They are only interested in the big customers who spend a lot of money with them (ie other corporate customers). I even read an article encouraging this sort of thing.
I wonder what would happen if the head of one of those “big” customers was the one needing support for a personal item or service and were treated the way you were. Can you see that person perhaps deciding to cut off the corporate account?
What goes around comes around. Just never fast enough to make you feel avenged.