Many customers who witness this will walk away from your company, rather than report it and give you a chance to rebound.
A third of customers say they witness or are victims of rude behavior by employees at least once a month, a study in the Journal of Service Research recently found.
The incivility bothers them enough to say “goodbye” to the company that employs those people.
And customers aren’t just bothered by an employee who’s rude to them. They don’t want to see employees or bosses treat co-workers or other customers badly, researchers found.
Problem is, most customers don’t bother telling businesses that they experienced rude behavior. Instead, they just find another supplier.
Encourage civility in the workplace by practicing it.
And to encourage customers to speak up:
- Post points of contact on your web page, invoices and any other correspondence. Remind customers, “Please advise us if anything doesn’t meet your satisfaction.”
- Ask customers in surveys, “Did our employees make you feel appreciated at all times?” If they say no, follow up to correct the incident.
