Making a LIST For Your Customers
When we’re working with new clients at Bonsai, one of the first things we ask is how their customer service stands up. It’s crucial to know of any pluses and/or minuses before starting a new campaign.
For instance, if a company’s customer service is poor, there could be a very big uphill struggle ahead in terms of brand acceptance. But, if customers have a positive view of you, it’s an extra piece of firepower that can be used in getting the news out about a new product or service.
This is particularly true with social media and online networks. With the amount of blogs, micro-blogs and forums that can spread bad news like wildfire, examples of poor customer service will come back and hit you hard – and fast. This is equally the same for positive news about you.
So how do you make sure your customer service stands up to closer inspection? Simple – you use a LIST.
Listen
The key to any great customer service is knowing what your customers are thinking and offering solutions where needed. You may have the greatest product in the world, but what if it’s only beneficial for right-handed people, for example? That means there’s a whole section of your customer base you’re not satisfying.
When you hear about problems, look at ways to resolving them. If it’s cost-effective, offer slight variations on a theme so you’re at least offering alternatives to those that may not benefit from your original product. It’s true that you won’t be able to please everybody all of the time, but pleasing the majority is a great second place.
Involve
Do you have a way for your customers to interact with you? Is there a contact form on your website? A suggestion link on your company newsletter? If not, how will you possibly know what your customers are thinking?
Involving and interacting with your customers is key to knowing what they want. Without this, you might be missing out on a potential goldmine of information that could help you decide on your next course of action. Always remember your customers are who pay your bills – knowing what they want is knowing how to succeed.
Satisfy
Great customer service means great customer satisfaction. This in turn leads to customer loyalty – important at the best of times but crucial in today’s business climate. If one of your customers has a problem, how you deal with it will define how you are perceived.
Don’t be pig-headed and ignore a customer’s grievance or point of view, even if they are in the wrong. Instead, be open and professional, and offer empathy for their situation.
Coming to a mutual agreement is obviously the best result, but if this isn’t going to happen, offer a reasoned argument to your customer on why they are incorrect on this occasion. Additionally, work towards a solution on how best to avoid the same problem in the future.
Transfer
Part of the above approaches is that you’re gathering actionable data. You’re finding out things about your customers that you may have otherwise missed, or seen but not recognized.
So use that information.
Take the knowledge you now have and see where else it can be transferred around your business. Does sales need information about the right description of a product? Does marketing need to adjust their terminology? Does legal need to put disclaimers on your products?
All this information you can get from your customers – so make it easy for them to give it to you.
There will always be instances when your customer’s expectations aren’t met. This is a simple fact of business and one that can’t be avoided. How you deal with it, however, is how you will be judged – make sure your response is the right one.
image: KTVee
Sage advice, and useful suggestions.
This cuts across the silos and helps clients understand that customer experience is everybody's business, whether you're on the frontlines taking calls or inside the operation acting on the data from those calls. You have to break down the silos to do that, and that's good news for any organization.
Hi Dan,
I have a question for all your readers. First I think your article is great, as customer service is about listening and responding. I have worked with some of the largest companies in Canada: Quebecor, Transcontinental, The YellowPages Group, Bank of Montreal, Toronto Raptors, TVCogeco, CNA Insurance, MCAP Service Corp, etc, and have interacted with CEO’s, VP’s, managers and directors.
I have always prided myself in listening to customer requirements and concerns, carefully documenting their needs, and delivering the goods. But what if a customer makes unusual demands or becomes irate for no reason at all? I will give you an example. Recently I took on a small customer account in downtown Toronto, no names will be mentioned, but this definitely rates as a “Customer Experience from Hell.”
How do you respond to a female client, who is the CEO of the company, when they ask you these two questions?
1) Do you have a mistress?
2) Do you want me to be your bitch?
Or if the above client was also yelling and swearing at her employee (who turns out to be her son) in your presence?
This really did happen to me in the last few weeks. How would you respond to these outrageous comments and behavior? I would love to hear if anyone else who has had similar experiences with their former clients (or current), and how they handled this outrageous behavior.
No names please, just experiences.
Regards,
Steve
Hi Danny
I place customer satisfaction at the top of my priorities along with providing top quality products. As I have just begun to sell my products; so far I have only had positive testimonials :-)
To make sure that continues I am prompt with sending out my products. I also add a hand-written thankyou with the orders. If it is a gift I will wrap in lavender paper (to go with my lavender products) and also write a message with the card from the purchaser to the recipient at no extra cost.
With regular readers of my blog if they order they will get a surprise gift with their purchase. I also have a contact page where customers can send comments, testimonials and hopefully not too many complaints ;-)
How I am hoping to improve sales and customer satisfaction is that I am going to be selling direct from my site rather than from my Etsy store. Will be writing more detailed descriptions of each products and doing more product reviews.
Patricia Perth Australia
Dan,
Your post is very true. Taking the time out to understand your clients and there needs and wants is a big step. I have seen first hand that not taking the time to listen and understand can cause great problems in the process of working with your client. You want to make sure that you listen and come to a good understanding of what would be going on.
Sage advice, and useful suggestions.
This cuts across the silos and helps clients understand that customer experience is everybody's business, whether you're on the frontlines taking calls or inside the operation acting on the data from those calls. You have to break down the silos to do that, and that's good news for any organization.
Hi Will,
Couldn't agree more, mate, and if something helps to break down the silos, I'm all for it. :)
The customer is always right.
Or are they?
I design small static websites for local businesses and spend most of my time trying to persuade clients to use a keyword rich domain name.
Some listen and some don't.
Whatever the outcome, you still have to work towards customer satisfaction.
It's always a hard line to tread, Keith. You know what's best for a client (that's why they hired you), but sometimes no matter how much you recommend something, they just don't want it.
All you can do then is try and help make the choice work.
Hi Dan,
I have a question for all your readers. First I think your article is great, as customer service is about listening and responding. I have worked with some of the largest companies in Canada: Quebecor, Transcontinental, The YellowPages Group, Bank of Montreal, Toronto Raptors, TVCogeco, CNA Insurance, MCAP Service Corp, etc, and have interacted with CEO’s, VP’s, managers and directors.
I have always prided myself in listening to customer requirements and concerns, carefully documenting their needs, and delivering the goods. But what if a customer makes unusual demands or becomes irate for no reason at all? I will give you an example. Recently I took on a small customer account in downtown Toronto, no names will be mentioned, but this definitely rates as a “Customer Experience from Hell.”
How do you respond to a female client, who is the CEO of the company, when they ask you these two questions?
1) Do you have a mistress?
2) Do you want me to be your bitch?
Or if the above client was also yelling and swearing at her employee (who turns out to be her son) in your presence?
This really did happen to me in the last few weeks. How would you respond to these outrageous comments and behavior? I would love to hear if anyone else who has had similar experiences with their former clients (or current), and how they handled this outrageous behavior.
No names please, just experiences.
Regards,
Steve
Dude, fire the client. That is unforgivable and inappropriate behaviour from anyone. By not firing her, you tacitly approve her behaviour. She needs to be told, respectfully, that her actions and words are unacceptable.
I've been in the business for 30 years, worked on a list of brands as illustrious as yours, and no client is worth that kind of abuse. I've fired a couple myself and although it cost me fees and lost business, it let me sleep at night. And we all gotta sleep at night.
Will, they beat me to the punch, but not before being stiffed for the last invoice. I was beyond shocked during the meeting, which lasted almost 90 minutes. What did annoy me even more was that they used all my blog improvement advice to their advantage. What does surprise me though, is that some people just do not realize how small the business world is in TO, and that social media has a nasty way of exposing people.
Wow. Truly a 'client from hell'!
I'm sad to hear you got stiffed, but given your description of their behaviour, not surprised. I feel your pain, but it will diminish over time. This has happened to me more than once. You just have to move on.
I had a similar experience with one of Canada's most high-profile business leaders. She had unconscionably torn a strip off one of my employees for no good reason, and even though I very diplomatically asked her never to do that again, she was far too proud to accept my advice and I lost her business as a result.
Best you can do is not recommend these folks to anyone who asks you for your advice.
Wow. Truly a 'client from hell'!
I'm sad to hear you got stiffed, but given your description of their behaviour, not surprised. I feel your pain, but it will diminish over time. This has happened to me more than once. You just have to move on.
I had a similar experience with one of Canada's most high-profile business leaders. She had unconscionably torn a strip off one of my employees for no good reason, and even though I very diplomatically asked her never to do that again, she was far too proud to accept my advice and I lost her business as a result.
Best you can do is not recommend these folks to anyone who asks you for your advice.
Hi Steve,
I think Will offers the perfect response. I would just add to document it where possible. Hard if it's a verbal conversation, but it it's an email exchange, then document it.
Never know when it'll come in useful, and you can use to advise the client/customer to back off, or else you'll "go public".
Here's to your problem resolving itself.
I am so relieved to see Ground Beef and Marinara on the list. I was working out strategy with BP and had that at the top of the list 8)
This is a great post Danny. I am a customer service expert including operations that support them. It is normally viewed as a cost vs an asset for a business. I always tell clients you have two choices. If you treat it as a cost you will be competing as a low cost provider and your margins will be thin. If you treat it as an asset you will be a value added provider and have more cushion with your margins.
But often the Client doesn't know their own strengths and weaknesses in that area. A list is a great way to determine things and then create an improvement plan. ISO9001 gives great tools for this.
I will end with a great product at the right price with stellar customer service and you will have people banging the door down to be a customer. (Just don't tell my Adland colleagues they will be upset)
Seems pretty easy when you think about it, Howie, doesn't it? Product + Price + Service = Loyalty. Did we just make a formula? ;-)
Absolutely true in whatever business you're in. Customer satisfaction is key to winning customer's heart.
The hardest battle is the last part of getting the information around the business. Easy enough in a small 10-50 person business but when you move in to big organizations with 1000 employees and face a bunch of internal politics it's often only through forcing stuff through that it gets done. You sometimes have the best infromation and feedback you could ever want but people just don't want to listen!
Couldn't agree more, Niall. I've been contracted at companies with thousands of employees worldwide, and that was always a huge challenge to overcome, as teams and managers didn't want others trying to make changes to how they ran things.
Definitely a tough road to travel at times - but more than worth the battle.
Spot on Danny. You can have the best campaign ever, but if there is nothing behind it then it is useless. Everything starts and stays with the customer. Without customers then no business.
Hi Danny
I place customer satisfaction at the top of my priorities along with providing top quality products. As I have just begun to sell my products; so far I have only had positive testimonials :-)
To make sure that continues I am prompt with sending out my products. I also add a hand-written thankyou with the orders. If it is a gift I will wrap in lavender paper (to go with my lavender products) and also write a message with the card from the purchaser to the recipient at no extra cost.
With regular readers of my blog if they order they will get a surprise gift with their purchase. I also have a contact page where customers can send comments, testimonials and hopefully not too many complaints ;-)
How I am hoping to improve sales and customer satisfaction is that I am going to be selling direct from my site rather than from my Etsy store. Will be writing more detailed descriptions of each products and doing more product reviews.
Patricia Perth Australia
Hi there Patricia,
Love that personal touch with the hand-written notes and lavender paper - very personalized and I bet your customers love it. :)
Now, the question is, will you be able to keep up if you start getting 1,000 orders a day? Though I guess that'd be a nice problem to have... ;-)
How accurate are your clients self assessments Danny? It seems as though there is a lot of potential for misinformation there. Any horror stories to add to this? :)
Hi Joe,
Sometimes they're spot on, sometimes way off - there doesn't seem to be a middle ground, for some reason. And there are always horror stories, though thankfully (luckily?) we haven't encountered any so far. :)
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