Why “Nah..sorry mate” does not cut it for customer service
This case study shows that customer service development is often needed. Too often the basics are missing as we found in this Telco company.
We had a recent experience here in the office when a certain Telco company let us down big style. My client solutions manager and I were about to go off to Indonesia on a business trip and needed 2 iPads urgently. Seduced online by an agent with a great offer, we were told we could definitely immediately get our hands on the 2 models we wanted at our local EE outlet.
Taking precious time out of our demanding schedule we rushed into town to pick up the promised iPads only to be met by a disinterested “Nah…sorry mate… none in stock here”. Doesn’t it seem amazing that the amount of effort and expense businesses pour into wooing the customer to purchase is often totally out of proportion to the level of service you get once in their clutches? Isn’t it astounding that staff representing major brands can get away with “Nah…sorry mate” as a way of communicating with customers?
So why are we often dropped from a dizzy height as customers and left feeling disappointed, frustrated, and as though we really don’t count? Why are so many businesses left wondering why their conversions, customer loyalty and retention levels are so poor? Why are they focussing so hard on sales and not service?
The ‘Behind the scenes’ stuff that goes wrong and results in customer let downs may well include technology, systems, processes and logistical difficulties. What can make a dramatic difference though is the member of staff who has deal with the disappointed customer. This can make or break the customer/company relationship and as a result can impact the bottom line.
Here are some must-haves:
- Build emotional intelligence into your selection criteria when you are appointing staff and make sure you know how to test for it
- Continual support, training and coaching to ensure high performance
- First contact resolution for the majority of complaints
- Positive, motivated members of staff
And most of all:
Employee engagement so that members of staff are willing and able to give extra discretionary effort
For more guidance on the importance of employee engagement and how this impacts on high performance and productivity watch out for our blog next week.
For help with your customer service development check out our learning and development options.
Bye for now
Alison Miles-Jenkins
The post Customer service development may be needed if your people say: “Nah sorry mate” appeared first on Training To Achieve.