{"id":159,"date":"2015-04-26T12:28:26","date_gmt":"2015-04-26T12:28:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/csm210469\/?p=159"},"modified":"2015-04-27T06:40:45","modified_gmt":"2015-04-27T06:40:45","slug":"customer-service-tips-for-curing-bad-customer-service","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/customer-service-tips-for-curing-bad-customer-service\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Tips for Curing Bad Customer Service"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"UnhappyBad customer service is everywhere these days.\u00a0Unmanned front desks, surly servers, clueless staff, employees talking on the phone, and managers who refuse to acknowledge a customer. Read on for 5 tips for curing bad service.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In an all-too-typical scene, a customer walks into a retail store with a question about where to find a product.\u00a0The employee, who is busy and doesn’t want to be bothered, gives the customer a curt answer and continues what she is doing without even looking the customer in the eye.<\/p>\n

The customer persists, so, with obvious annoyance, the employee begrudgingly turns around and points the customer in the general direction of the product\u2019s location. Instead of buying the product, the customer leaves the store, frustrated, vowing to never return.<\/p>\n

Most business owners and employees recognize this as a classic example of bad customer service. And yet, this scene is repeated endlessly in modern society. Negativity breeds negativity, and eventually, nobody is happy.<\/p>\n

\u201cNever, never, never ignore a customer,\u201d says Art Waller, Regional Department Head for Utah State University. Waller provides tips on how to improve customer relations, a vital segment of any business.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s important to be accessible,\u201d Waller said. \u201cEverything is an interruption. A phone rings, someone comes into an office, that\u2019s an interruption. But if a customer is right there, do that first. That\u2019s why you\u2019re there.<\/p>\n

One of the single most important aspects of a successful business is good customer service. Waller cited recent findings in customer service. A typical business only hears from 4 percent of its dissatisfied customers. The other 96 percent quietly go away. Of this 96 percent, 68 percent never reveal their dissatisfaction because they perceive an attitude of indifference in the owner, manager or employee.<\/p>\n

Waller said this statistic is particularly dangerous for businesses because if a dissatisfied customer can\u2019t express their complaints to a business, they\u2019ll express them through other outlets such as friends, neighbors and family.<\/p>\n

A typical dissatisfied customer will tell eight to ten people about their problem. One in five will tell 20. \u201cIt takes 12 positive service incidents to make up for one negative incident,\u201d Waller said. \u201cSeven out of ten complaining customers will do business with you again if you resolve the complaint in their favor. If you resolve it on the spot, 95 percent will do business with you again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Waller said these statistics speak to the importance of taking action. Often an employee perceives dissatisfaction in a customer, but chooses to ignore it and hopes that the problem will go away. However, if the customer then goes away with the problem, the customer will likely never return to the business. This trend is what hurts businesses more than anything.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t have the ability to keep people that are already happy with our product,\u201d Waller said. \u201cThe average business spends six times more to attract new customers than it does to keep old ones. Yet customer loyalty is in most cases worth 10 times the price of a single purchase.\u201d<\/p>\n

The first step is recognizing tendencies toward bad customer service. But how do businesses improve their overall customer service? Waller offered some basic tips:<\/p>\n

Like what you do<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cIf you don\u2019t love what you do, get the heck out,\u201d Waller said. \u201cIf you love what you do, it will be evident and people will know it.\u201d People who have a bad attitude about what they do will reflect their attitude onto everyone around them, including customers. Like most everything in life, good customer service always comes back to attitude.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you believe your customers are a pain in the butt, guess what \u2014 you\u2019re right,\u201d he said. \u201cWhat you say, what you do, and what you think are the same thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Learn to adjust your perception<\/strong><\/p>\n

Because good customer service depends on a good attitude, a bad attitude will surely diminish any facade of friendliness. Waller recommends that employees analyze what is causing their negative outlook and make a conscious effort to change, rather than cover it up with a false smile.\u00a0\u201cHow do you change a belief of certainty?\u201d Waller asked. \u201cYou take out references and change it. Over time, it changes that belief system.\u201d<\/p>\n

Establish Rapport<\/strong><\/p>\n

Customers will do business with people they like. Employees gain this approval by establishing rapport, or a positive connection, with a customer. Rapport can be established by simple gestures such as calling a customer by their name, recognizing mutual interests, asking questions, and making eye contact. The customer instantly recognizes the employee as someone who cares about their well-being, and is more likely to do business with the company.<\/p>\n

\u201cWon\u2019t you spend more money to go to a car dealership where you\u2019ve been treated well?\u201d Waller asked. \u201cDevelop a genuine interest in and admiration for your customers.\u201d So what happens when an employee doesn\u2019t establish rapport? The customer automatically meets that employee with more suspicion, which leads to distrust, which leads to potential conflict.<\/p>\n

Avoid a standoff<\/strong><\/p>\n

Many times businesses find themselves locked in an argument with a complaining customer that becomes impossible to resolve. Waller said the way to prevent this is to avoid the argument in the first place. His advice is to step back, analyze where the customer is coming from, and form a solution from their standpoint, not yours.<\/p>\n

\u201cI never fought with them,\u201d Waller said. \u201cIn fact, I went into a dance with them. You\u2019ve got to dance with them. You have the empathize, and get into their world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Be reliable, be responsive and be credible<\/strong><\/p>\n

Local cable and utility companies are a prime example businesses that do not possess these qualities, Waller said. When a customer calls up in need of service, they give vague ideas of when they\u2019ll be there (\u201csometime between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m.\u201d), sometimes don\u2019t show up at all, and are generally indifferent to customers\u2019 concerns. Because of this behavior, they have lost nearly all credibility in the public eye.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, businesses such as Mercedes-Benz, Ritz Carlton Hotels, and Disneyland have all gained reputations for immaculate customer service, where employees are always nearby to cater to customers\u2019 every need at any time. These businesses gained this reputation with years of training their employees to put the customer first.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe customer\u2019s perception is everything,\u201d Waller said. \u201cPeople pay for peace of mind. They want security, integrity, and the assurance that if there is a problem, it will be promptly handled.\u201d<\/p>\n

All of these tips come down to the platinum rule, or to \u201ctreat people like they want to be treated.\u201d This rule takes the Golden Rule a step higher, forcing the employee to assess exactly what the customer wants and act accordingly, not just act as they would want to act in the same situation.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can\u2019t reach everyone the same way,\u201d he said. \u201cYou don\u2019t deal with reality. Nobody does. We deal with our perception of reality.\u201d<\/p>\n

Waller said any attitude in good customer service fits in the \u201cas if\u201d clause. Always act \u201cas if\u201d you are the only personal contact that the customer has with the business, and behave \u201cas if\u201d the entire reputation of the business depends on you.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe \u2018as if\u2019 clause puts you where you need to be,\u201d Waller said. \u201cThe bottom line comes down to relationships and how you treat others.\u201d .<\/p>\n

About the Author<\/strong><\/p>\n

Jill Homer<\/a> is a freelance writer who provides articles and ad copy for business and financing specialties.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bad customer service is everywhere these days. Unmanned front desks, surly servers, clueless staff, employees talking on the phone, and managers who refuse to acknowledge a customer. Read on for 5 tips for curing bad service.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":144,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/144"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=159"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3125,"href":"https:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159\/revisions\/3125"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=159"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=159"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.customerservicemanager.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=159"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}