Customer Service– Mind Control

I thought this was such a great article on a sort of “mind control” to use on customer service agents. Check the whole article out here, the following is a story of her using her technics.

“This works even if the problem is not your own. This works even if the problem is not your own, and you are dealing with the infamous Best Buy. I have a success story to share now.

Currently living with me is my sister-in-law. She moved from Texas. A year or so before she moved to California, there was an issue with her computer. Her parents are fairly computer illiterate, but had purchased the PC as a gift for her, and therefore did it on their own. They purchased a floor model, and were not informed, and did not know to ask, that the OS disk was not included. They were not informed that they would need to make a boot disk themselves, and neither was my sister.

Six months later, my sister’s computer ran out of space, and she followed the on-screen instructions to free some up, running Disk Cleanup. Disk Cleanup removed essential files from the OS, causing the computer to brick. A full re-install was necessary. She called Best Buy and they told her it would cost over $100 to reload the computer. She called me in a panic, as she and her parents were living off her father’s Army pension at the time and could not afford the fee.

I called the Best Buy store’s direct number, and asked to speak to a manager. I was told none was there. I waited one hour, and called back. This time I got Jose. I introduced myself and let him know that I was calling on behalf of a friend that was having an issue, and thanked him for solving it for me today. I then explained to him that my friend had been given a computer without an OS disk, and now needed to reload the computer, but had been told it would cost quite a bit of money. He informed me that she was told when the computer was purchased that she needed to create a boot disk.

I informed him that she was not, and that he would need to reload the computer without charge. He said he could not do that. I calmly pointed out that it is very bad policy to charge a customer for something he should never have done in the first place, and that the operating system was sold with the computer, and since the disk was not included, we basically had two options available to us – he could either issue her a free copy of Windows XP, or reload the computer free of charge. I asked him which solution he felt would be best for her. He told me that they could do neither, and I asked him how he would be solving it. He asked me to hold for a moment, then came back on the line, and told me to have her come in, and he would take care of it.

I called my sister and gave her Jose’s name and told her to ask for him directly once in the store, because he would be taking care of her problem. She and her mother went, and he met them. Again, they were informed that it would cost to reload the computer. The exact charge came to $97.53 with taxes. In a panic, my sister called me, and I told her that he was not going to charge her. She said he was. I asked her to put him on the phone.

Here’s the clincher – when faced with having to speak to me again, he quickly changed his mind and offered an acceptable solution to the problem: he would issue them a gift card for the exact amount, and they would use that to pay for the service. We all agreed to the terms, and he came back exactly two minutes later with a gift card for the exact charge, and handed it to the cashier.”

Zappos…blowing my mind!

Here is a story that I came across the other day and just felt like I had to share, I found it here.  Yes, you might notice that this story happened in 2007, but I have heard nothing but the best about them ever since…

“One bright, extraordinary note in all of the sad stuff of the last few weeks – in May we had ordered several pairs of shoes from Zappos for my mom. She’d lost a lot of weight, and her old shoes were all too big. She had a whole new wardrobe of clothes in pretty colors, that fit, so I wanted her to have some pretty shoes that fit, too, when I took her up to Oregon to stay where her sister is. Out of seven pairs, only two fit. Not bad considering she’d never been this thin, so I was winging it, and the return shipping is free.

The rest were here waiting to be returned. Because of various circumstances – lost label, my mom being hospitalized and me being away, the shoes were never sent back. There’s a time limit on the return of 15 days. Remember this. When you do a return to them, they pay the shipping, but you have to get the shoes to UPS yourself. Remember this, also.

When I came home this last time, I had an email from Zappos asking about the shoes, since they hadn’t received them. I was just back and not ready to deal with that, so I replied that my mom had died but that I’d send the shoes as soon as I could. They emailed back that they had arranged with UPS to pick up the shoes, so I wouldn’t have to take the time to do it myself. I was so touched. That’s going against corporate policy.

Yesterday, when I came home from town, a florist delivery man was just leaving. It was a beautiful arrangement in a basket with white lilies and roses and carnations. Big and lush and fragrant. I opened the card, and it was from Zappos. I burst into tears. I’m a sucker for kindness, and if that isn’t one of the nicest things I’ve ever had happen to me, I don’t know what is. So…

IF YOU BUY SHOES ONLINE, GET THEM FROM ZAPPOS.

With hearts like theirs, you know they’re good to do business with.”

 Wow this story just blew my mind…I hope it did the same to yours.

What do you do with a complaining customer?

Such a common problem that we as customer service enthusiast come across is“What do you do with a complaining customer?” well I want to share what this article says about answering this question.

“Make sure that the problem gets fixed and they are happy. If the owner is there when the problem comes up, the customer probably leaves feeling happy. If the owner’s not there, that satisfaction may not happen. So you have to communicate with your employees about how important it is that customers are really happy about doing business with your company.

It’s not easy to give good customer service consistently unless you train your people. They should know how to listen to customers without speaking until the customer is done. If the customer is not happy with whatever the employee suggests, they should get a manager, and the manager should turn to the owner if need be.

These incidents should be tracked, with follow-up, and everyone knowing the ultimate outcome.” This is some basic but yet very useful information. I believe that the most important thing to take away from this is that your employees should “know how to listen to customers without speaking until the customer is done.”

Also all of this comes down to you training your employees. Employee training can make or break a customers view of how your business is run and if they would like to support you again when it comes time to make another purchase. I would say that it would be a great investment to take a look at the employee training you provide.

Post Black Friday

So I did it, I got up this morning at 3:30 AM and faced the crowds for some goooood deals…and… I am still alive. I wasn’t trampled or maced or shot at, I guess you could say I was lucky. Although I don’t know if my experience counts because I wasn’t at Walmart or Target where all the crazies are. No offensive to all of those who do hit up the Walmart and Target they have some amazing deals and I wish I had the guts to face “those” crowds.

As sort of a follow up to my last post I just want to state again that Every year we hear about the mania that occurs and sadly, deaths that come from it. The reason I bring this to our attention, is that the customer service of these businesses participating in Black Friday forget much of their responsibility.

They usually have plenty of employees manning the floors in order to help everyone, but the safety of everyone needs to be addressed as well. Businesses need to train their employees on keeping customers calm, and possibly increase their security to help keep parents from trying to kill each other over the last toy on the shelf. I hope everyone had a safe and happy shopping day. Happy Thanksgiving!

Black Friday

Black Friday

Thanksgiving is less than a week away, so we all know that the most hectic day of shopping is to follow. Now we have a reason to take a nice nap after our big turkey feast.

Best Buy is providing a movie for those customers that will be in line outside waiting for the doors to open at midnight, while other stores are opening even earlier than midnight. This is a perfect time to see what a company’s customer service is made of. The holiday season calls for more workers and longer hours.

Every year we hear about the mania that occurs and sadly, deaths that come from it. The reason I bring this to our attention, is that the customer service of these businesses participating in Black Friday forget much of their responsibility.

They usually have plenty of employees manning the floors in order to help everyone, but the safety of everyone needs to be addressed as well. Businesses need to train their employees on keeping customers calm, and possibly increase their security to help keep parents from trying to kill each other over the last toy on the shelf. Good luck this next weekend, and be careful.

8. Throw in something extra!

In continuing my writing on the 8 Rules to Good Customer Service. Remember I am
going to be pulling these “8 Rules” from this article, and putting my own twist on them. Rule 8 of 8 is…

8. Throw in something extra.

Whether it’s a coupon for a future discount, additional information on how to use the product, or a genuine smile, people love to get more than they thought they were getting.

And don’t think that a gesture has to be large to be effective. The local art framer that we use attaches a package of picture hangers to every picture he frames. A small thing, but so appreciated.

This is something that is close to my heart I like so many people love getting a deal. It makes me want to go back to the store that helped me save so much money.

My personal example of this is Kohl’s. I love Kohl’s!!! I love the random free $10 that come the mail. It is such a happy day when I get this money…for free!!! For one, it gives me a reason to go to there store and I usually end up spending back well what the free ten dollars is worth.

If you apply these eight simple rules consistently, cxm , ikgtyour business will become known for its good customer service. And the best part? The irony of good customer service is that over time it will bring in more new customers than promotions and price slashing ever did!

7. Take the Extra Step.

In continuing my writing on the 8 Rules to Good Customer Service. Remember I am
going to be pulling these “8 Rules” from this article, and putting my own twist on them. Rule 7 of 8 is…

7) Take the extra step.Take this situation and put yourself in it and think, if someone walks into your store and asks you to help them find something, don’t just say, “It’s in Aisle 3″. Then return to your work like whatever. What you should do is you lead the customer to the item.

Better yet, once you get the item you wait and see if they have questions about it. Then ask them if there is anything else you can help them find and let them know that if they do need anything else where you will be.

Whatever the extra step may be, if you want to provide good customer service, take it. They may not say so to you, but people notice when people make an extra effort and will tell other people.

This actually happened to me in Walmart the other day (I know you probably think it is crazy that I could even locate a associate in the first place), but yes I did find some one and they where extremely helpful.

I am the kind of person that likes to let people know when I am satisfied, so I made sure to let the associate know how much it meant to me that he would “ take the extra step”.  What kind of person are you?

6. Train your staff (if you have any) to be always helpful, courteous, and knowledgeable.

In continuing my writing on the 8 Rules to Good Customer Service. Remember I am
going to be pulling these “8 Rules” from this article, and putting my own twist on them. Rule 5 of 8 is…

6) Train your staff (if you have any) to be always helpful, courteous, and knowledgeable.

 

“Do it yourself or hire someone to train them. Talk to them about good customer service and what it is (and isn’t) regularly. Most importantly, give every member of your staff enough information and power to make those small customer-pleasing decisions, so he never has to say, “I don’t know, but so-and-so will be back at…” “

This so important to me, so many times when I have encounter an employee that has been rude or unhelpful and I can’t help thinking… I wish the owner could see the way you are treating their customers.

This is something that I always try and think about when I am dealing with customers and it really seems to help me. So I guess a good thing to do, is to think that every customer might be going straight to your boss or the owner to report on the way they were treated.

5. Be helpful-even if there’s no immediate profit in it.

In continuing my writing on the 8 Rules to Good Customer Service. Remember I am going to be pulling these “8 Rules” from this article, and putting my own twist on them. Rule 5 of 8 is…

5) Be helpful – even if there’s no immediate profit in it.

“The other day I popped into a local watch shop because I had lost the small piece that clips the pieces of my watch band together. When I explained the problem, the proprietor said that he thought he might have one lying around. He found it, attached it to my watch band – and charged me nothing! Where do you think I’ll go when I need a new watch band or even a new watch? And how many people do you think I’ve told this story to?”

This is such a great example of this principle, being helpful is such a great way to make a good impression. Then when it comes time for the person to make the decision of where take their business this impression will be remember. Even if this particular person doesn’t ever use your business, the word of mouth business that you might get would absolutely be enough payback .

4. Deal with Complaints.

In continuing my writing on the 8 Rules to Good Customer Service. Remember I am going to be pulling these “8 Rules” from this article, and putting my own twist on them.

 

4) Deal with complaints.

“No one likes hearing complaints, and many of us have developed a reflex shrug, saying, “You can’t please all the people all the time”. Maybe not, but if you give the complaint your attention, you may be able to please this one person this one time – and position your business to reap the benefits of good customer service”

My view on this is that you might not be able to please all the people all the time, but you should try and please all the people all the time.  This way you never have to try and back up yourself about using the proper attitude and etiquette.