Companies and contact center agents must work hard to gain customer loyalty. Unfortunately, it doesn’t take much to lose it. Avoid these fumbles.
One occurrence of any of these circumstances is enough for many customers to turn to one of your competitors.
Here are the five fastest ways to kill customer loyalty – and tips on avoid the mistakes.
- Indifference. For customers, indifference can come in many forms: no acknowledgement for a long period of time, downplaying the severity of their issues, wasting their time, steering them toward products or services that don’t fit their needs, etc. To avoid this: Listen closely to emotions. Customers need empathy for their inconveniences, concern for their time and an understanding of their needs.
- A cover up. Mistakes happen, and customers understand that. Covering up an error, only to have it revealed later, is a deal-breaker. To avoid this: When mistakes occur, notify customers immediately, giving them as much time as possible to adjust for the situation. Then tell them how you’ll fix issues and take steps to avoid them in the future.
- A one-way relationship. Customers don’t need constant communication from you. But they need to know once in a while that you consider them important. To avoid this: Monitor accounts so you know when there’s a lapse in buying or contact patterns. That’s when it’s time to call with a special discount or send them pertinent information.
- Arguing. Disagreeing with a customer is never worth it. If you disagree with customers, you break the trust and confidence they have in the relationship. To avoid this: Realize that customers will be wrong sometimes. But you don’t want to ever point it out. Instead, focus on where you agree and move toward the solution.
- Missed promises. Companies and their employees who fail to deliver on promises will lose customers quickly. If you don’t answer email in the 24 hours promised online, they’ll leave. If you miss a delivery deadline, they’ll leave. If customers get a product with lower quality than expected, they’ll leave. To avoid this: The old rule will always be the truest. Under promise, over deliver.
