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Home » Business And Finance Articles » Is Bad Customer Service Killing Your Business

Is Bad Customer Service Killing Your Business?

It's time to beat the old bad customer service drum again. I know, I'm sick of beating the drum, too, but as long as bad customer service runs rampant through so many businesses I feel it is my entrepreneurial duty to bring it to your attention. So grab a pew and prepare to listen to the sermon I've preached before: bad customer service is the bane of business. If the Almighty smote down every business that dispenses bad customer service the world would be a much friendlier, albeit much sparser place. Consider a world without malls and fast food joints... would it really be so bad?

What puzzles me most is if bad customer service is such a death knell for business, why do so many businesses allow it to go on? Don't they read my column, for Pete's sake? I think the problem is that most bad customer service is doled out (or at least condoned) by business owners and managers who have ceased caring what their customers think. When you stop caring what your customers think it's time to close the doors. Go find a day job. You'll make someone a wonderfully disgruntled employee.

My latest parable of lousy customer service was actually experienced by my better half while attempting to buy my daughter a pair of basketball shoes. I won't mention the name of the sporting goods chain store in which the bad customer service took place, but I will tell you that its name is similar to the sound a frog with hiccups might make.

As my wife waited for someone to assit, the four or five teenagers who had been charged with manning the store stood in a clump at the cash register giggling and flirting with one another as if they were at the prom instead of at work.

When my wife pointed out this fact, one of the employees, a cheeky lass of 16 or so, put her hands on her hips and said, "How rude!" The males in the group didn't react at all. They were too busy arguing over who could take a break so they could chase other cheeky lasses about the mall.

Needless to say my lovely bride, who has the ability to instill fear into the hearts of even the most worthless employees, left the gaggle of giggling teen idiots standing with their mouths open in disbelief. How dare a customer tell them to do that with a pair of basketball shoes?

As much as I bemoan bad customer service I celebrate good customer service. It should be applauded and the purveyor of said good customer service should be rewarded for actually delivering satisfaction to the customer above and beyond the call of duty.

So let me tell you the story of my new hero, Ken. I won't tell you the name of the store in which Ken works, but let's just say they started out selling radios in a shack somewhere long, long ago.

I first met Ken when I went into the store to buy a mixing board for my business that records audio products for the Web. In a nutshell, you plug microphones into the mixing board then connect it to the computer and you can record audio directly to digital format. Totally beside the point of this article, but I didn't want you thinking that I was purchasing non-manly cooking utensils.

When I got the mixer installed it didn't work. So I boxed it up and headed back to the store to return it. When I told Ken my problem he didn't just grunt and give me my money back as so many bad customer service reps would do. Instead he asked, "Do you mind if I try it?"

"Knock yourself out," was my reply, confident that if I couldn't get it to work, neither could Ken. Ken took the mixer out of the box and went about hooking it up to one of the computers on display. He started pulling power cords and cables off the display racks and ripping them open and plugging them in. He tore open a new microphone and an adapter and kept going until he had the mixer hooked up and working. Yes, I said working. It turns out the mixer was fine. I just had the wrong power adapter.

Ken could have just given me my money back and been done with me. Instead he spent 15 minutes and opened a number of other packages that I was under no obligation to buy just to help me get the thing working.

I was so impressed that I not only kept the mixing board, I also bought another $50 worth of products. And the next time I need anything electronic guess where I will buy it? Even if it costs twice as much, I'll buy it from Ken.

Now here's the moral of the story: if you are a business owner who has a gaggle of teenagers in charge of customer service at your store you would be better off replacing them with wild monkeys.

At least monkeys can be trained.

And here is another random article you might be interested in...

I'm Going To Be On Time If It Kills Me

A quiet amusement of mine is to watch the expression of people who arrive late for my time management seminars. (Now you're going to be worried every time you go to one of my programs!) The look resembles a child who just got caught with a hand in the cookie jar. Tail between the legs, these people shuffle in sheepishly mumbling something about traffic, while their friends jibe, "How can you be late for a time management class"?

The number one complaint I receive from managers who bring me in to coach their folks on performance is something around "the inability to meet deadlines, is always late, is constantly running behind, or he/she forgot." There are actually three types of people I see:

1. "Late" people are typically perpetually late, for everything.

2. "On time" people typically arrive a minute or two ahead or behind the goal.

3. "Early" people are rare and are generally early to everything.

Victor Borge's famous comment in concert sums it up nicely. He was well into his performance when a woman came in late, fighting her way through the rows to her seat near the front. Borge stopped playing and as she proceededâ€"trampling over people, embarrassing, rustling, and disturbing her way to her seatâ€"he said (much to her chagrin, as all eyes focused on her ill-timed arrival) "Excuse me, excuse me, excuse me." After she sat down, he walked over near where she was sitting and said, "Where are you from, Ma'am?" "Fifty-Seventh Street," she said. "Well, Lady, I'm from Denmark and I was here on time."

People are much more irritated by lateness than we ever know, it can dampen everything from promotions and raises to friendships. Late people crowd us, physically and mentally, all the time. We all hate the fact that their lateness undoes our schedule and disrupts our day. Showing up late for work or sending something in late, no matter how well done, still means a black mark against you.

For example, let's say that you hired me to speak at a conference you were planning. I was slotted to be the opening speaker, and I was scheduled to speak at 9:00 AM. At 9:05, I came rushing in, exclaiming that I was trapped in a major traffic jam. Would you care? NO! You could care less about my reason. You only care about your conference at the time. People expect you to honor their time and your commitments, just as you expect that from them. After I gave an incredible speech and everyone loved me, would you ever hire me again? NO! In fact, you would remember how embarrassed you felt when I was late. You would probably even tell other people about my tardiness and recommend they don't hire me either!

So I'm an Early, not because I'm soooooo productive, but because I've discovered the benefits in doing so. For one of your New Year's productivity goals in 2006, I'd like to encourage you to become an Early. Why is it important?

• You get the first choice of many things
• You gain admiration and respect
• You are able to relax and not sweat
• You get good press and publicity
• You get the rest of the time to relax or read

Being an Early makes you look competent and lets others know you can be depended upon. Being a Late, however, makes people wonder if you'll come through this time. You'll always be bringing up the rear, never totally trusted, no matter how skilled you are. Even if you're on "on time," that's fairly typical...boring? It just doesn't stand out. It's okay...just expected...yawn. Don't be simply "average"!

LATE says, "I can't make deadlines." EARLY says, "I don't need deadlines."

LATE says, "I'm out of control." EARLY says, "I'm in control."

LATE says, "I can't look beyond the moment." EARLY says, "I look ahead."

Convinced? So how do you become an Early? It has nothing to do with setting your watch five minutes fast and "fooling" yourself, because psychologically, you know it's five minutes fast, and make up for it anyway. Keep your clocks on the correct time. It also doesn't really have anything to do with time management, but with planning. In fact, this simple, inexpensive principle will actually *prevent* 50% or more of your "time management" problems.

So instead of thinking, "I begin speaking at 9:00 AM," my thoughts rather go something like, "I should plan on arriving at 8:00 AM to set up and get prepared." Then I have to figure out how long it should take me to get there, a buffer in case there's traffic, what time I would need to be dropping the kids off at daycare, what time to get them up, so what time I'd have to wake up in order for all that to happen. And I have lots of things to do once I have arrived and set up...bills to pay, magazines to peruse, that report to read, or thank you letters to write.

Here's a quiz. If you had a speech to give in March, and it's January now, when would you begin preparing? The week before? If you started now and researched over time, you would be much less stressed and have prepared much more when the time came. If you have a trip coming up, do you pack the night before? Why not set the suitcase out and drop things in it over the week ahead? If you have to run to the store for something you're out of, no problem. You won't be in a last-minute rush and picking out clothes at midnight, starting your trip tired and grumpy. When did you think about your holiday cards????

Before you sit down to relax each night, ask yourself, "What's coming up next week?" "What can I get out of the way now?" I can never go to bed at night without going over the next day, knowing exactly where I need to be, what I need to have, and everything laid out in front of me. I have clothes selected, school papers signed, lunches made, briefcase packed, and schedule outlined. Each month, I plan for the next month and look ahead at what needs to be done.

Become an Early, and you won't have "deadlines." They will be unnecessary since you complete things early. Deadlines were made for people who would not get things done without it. Deadlines eliminate all the job of accomplishment as you work for the deadline, not the completion of a project or task. Deadlines are often irrelevant anyway, because the task is often put off until the deadline, but it could have been done much sooner.

It will take a bit to catch up, but once you're on top of things, stay one step ahead. You will experience a new peace of mind. If you are early (no extra cost, no strain, no explanations), you don't have to worry about deadlines. So make working ahead and early your style, convert "later" to "now," and you'll be much more efficient in 2006.

Make it a productive day! â„¢