Having a poor experience is the top reason customers will seek out a new provider, according to the latest research. And most customers will likely have a poor experience if your front-line people make these seemingly innocent mistakes:
- having to contact Customer Service several times for the same reason (65%)
- dealing with unfriendly customer service professionals (65%), and
- being put on hold for a long time when contacting Customer Service (61%).
Those are the things that customers said frustrate them most — and make them much more likely to jump ship.
That data comes from the Accenture Global Consumer Pulse survey.
Get and keep customers
They all leave bad, lasting impressions on customers. What’s more, those frustrated customers are likely to tell friends, colleagues and family about the poor experience, potentially causing greater damage to the business.
“The goal of every business needs to be simply this — to get and keep customers,” says Bill Gessert, President of the International Customer Service Association (ICSA).”Without doing this, you are not going to make money, profits, achieve growth, or be the leader in your market.
“So how do you get, and more importantly keep, customers? Clearly everything you do needs to keep the customer’s experience in mind,” Gessert says.
What great service looks like
Every interaction should at least include these five important elements, according to Shep Hyken, author of Amaze Every Customer Every Time: 52 Tools for Delivering the Most Amazing Customer Service on the Planet:
- Greet. Make the first impression great with a warm”hello” and welcome on the phone or in person.
- Inquire. Ask an open-ended question so the conversation is immediately started (instead of “Can I help you?” which elicits just a “yes” or “no” response) Ask: “What I help you do today” or “What questions can I answer for you?”
- Follow up by asking “Why?” Once you know what customers need, you can help them find the best fit by getting to know the reasons behind the purchase or question. For example, ask, “Why do you need the newer model?”
- Offer more help. Once you’ve answered the initial question or resolved their need, find out if there’s more you can do. New or different needs can arise during the course of the interaction. Ask, “What else can I do for you now?”
- Show gratitude. Make the “thank you” personal. Thank customers for something specific — e.g., “Thank you for bringing X to my attention,” “Thank you for this new order,” “I appreciate your long-time loyalty,” or “Thank you for giving me the opportunity to take care of this.”
Gessert and Hyken will speak at the ICSA Annual Conference in Jacksonville, FL, Sept. 22 to 25. Click here for details and to register.
