Try This Customer Service Quiz With Your Team On Reasons Clients Stop Using Any Businessby Nina Sunday
There are useful lessons to be learned by analysing reasons clients stop using
any business.
A well-known research study* identified five typical reasons customers leave, and here they are:1. Move away
2. Develop other friendships
3. Price
4. Dissatisfaction with the product or service
5. Attitude of indifference by the owner, manager or some employee
Why not conduct a guessing exercise with your co-workers? Can they guess which of these 5 reasons was cited more often?
Ask each person to assign a percentage out of 100 next to each reason listed. (Remember, when they tally, their total for all 5 reasons should add up to 100%.)
Price
Do they think price was the most important? Many people assume most people shop on price, but research shows only 9% of customers are price shoppers. Price shoppers are not loyal. They switch from supplier to supplier and won't necessarily stay just because you provide good service.
Dissatisfaction
What about dissatisfaction? Did they consider that might be the main reason to stop using a firm? Not according to the research. Only 14% leave because they are dissatisfied with the product or service. 5% develop new relationships, 3% move away, 1% die. That leaves 68%.
Indifference
The main reason clients stop using a business is indifference by the owner, manager or staff members. What behaviour is perceived as indifferent? Lack of eye contact, lack of friendliness, doing one's job in a neutral, humdrum way are perceived as being indifferent.
When I flew with Qantas airline, during the usual announcement, 'Qantas flight 508 to Brisbane is now boarding through Gate 8', they added, 'On behalf of Qantas, we hope you enjoy a pleasant flight.' That's an extra statement that's positive and friendly. It's something a little extra that comes across as 'they care'. If your eyes stay glued to the computer screen, fingers keep tapping the keyboard while responding to someone speaking to you face to face, it sends the message they are an interruption.
Lack of urgency when a client is anxious about a missing or late item is alsointerpreted as indifference. The 'moment of truth' principle in customer service highlights that with every interaction your client is deciding whether to do business with you or whether to continue to do business with you.
Observe for yourself. Are all customer touchpoints in your organisation positive and friendly?
Action Summary
1. Notice next time you go through the checkout at the supermarket. Did the operator make eye contact and smile? Are they personable?
2. When you answer the phone do you sound welcoming and ready to assist?
3. If you can't say yes to a customer request, can you be creative and come up with a suggestion a long the lines of 'but what I can do is…?'
4. Find reasons to stay in touch with regular clients; demonstrate you value this relationship. Create an SIT (Stay In Touch) list.
* Work cited:
This research study was highlighted in Michael LeBoeuf's 1989 book, 'How to Win Customers and Keep Them For Life.' Revised edition: Berkley Trade (2000).
For twenty years Michael LeBoeuf was professor of management at the University of New Orleans, retiring as Professor Emeritus at age 47 in 1989.
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For Customer Service training for your group of 10-16 staff in your organisation's training room or for a speaker at your conference, visit our Customer Service training web page
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Customer Service Tip
How to Under Promise and Over Deliver - the UPOD Tactic
by Nina Sunday
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When the item arrived in 7 days, I was pleasantly surprised and felt good about the company I'd bought from. By building a buffer around the promised time of delivery, the company set themselves up for success.
Imagine if they promised delivery in 7 days. If for some reason there was a delay with the mail and the item delivered on the eighth day, I’d feel negative about the experience.
In their eagerness to please their customer, do your customer service staff declare things will happen within a minimum timeframe without allowing for contingencies?
Every day your customer has to wait beyond the promised time-frame, they become progressively more negative. By over promising they set up your client for disappointment.
In a theme park, if a ride is advertised with a 30-minute wait, the actual wait might only be 25 minutes, or a 20-minute wait might be 15. Isn’t this better than being told there’s a 20-minute wait and actually waiting 30?
Consider a furniture retailer who orders product from overseas. It's common practice if the shipping container becomes full, even before all ordered items are packed, remaining orders are carried over to the next container.
Are staff better off to say it will take 'up to 12 weeks' to arrive, rather than give a specific range, '8 to 12 weeks to arrive'? Will your customer start considering it ‘late’ after 8 weeks, one day?
Same day promises are similar. Instead of verbally committing to sending it 'straight away', they can say 'soon' instead.
Perhaps find out first, ‘When do you need this by?’ They might surprise you with, ‘I’m out of office for the next week, so I don’t send until . . .'
Alternatively, if the reply is along the lines of, ‘I have a meeting tomorrow at 9 am where I’ll need the information’, then you know this is a priority to get done with urgency.
What not to do
A holiday resort would surprise repeat guests with an unexpected fruit hamper in their room. This created much customer delight and goodwill.
But the marketing department decided to promote in the new brochure 'a complimentary fruit basket to repeat guests upon arrival.'
That’s when complaints started to come in.
• ‘Where’s the fruit basket I was promised?’
• ‘I don’t like bananas; can I switch for oranges?’
• ‘It’s not very big, is it?’
To apply this UPOD tactic - under promise and over deliver - simply think of something extra you can give or do without informing your client ahead of time.
It’s not part of the package, they didn't pay for it, it’s not expected, and more likely to be appreciated.
Another way to apply this tactic . . . your customer wants something done fast. You estimate it will take you one hour to complete, assuming no interruptions. Let your client know you’ll get onto this, but promise completion in two hours.
When you are finished in one hour, as you anticipated, your client will be delighted you were so prompt. And if for any reason you are interrupted, you have allowed yourself a buffer, so you can still appear efficient and professional.
Vary time frames as appropriate – promise ‘by the end of the week’ yet send it to them tomorrow. This gives you extra time should an unanticipated delay arise.
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For Customer Service training for your group of 10-16 staff in your organisation's training room or for a speaker at your conference, visit our Customer Service training web page
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Customer Service Tip
Answer the Phone With a Smile in Your Voice, and the Same Way Every Time
by Nina Sunday
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In the eyes of your customer, every contact is a moment of truth.
A moment of truth, because with every phone call your caller might be deciding whether to do business with your organisation or to continue to do business with you.
Have you ever rung a company, and by the way they answered the phone you felt as if you were an interruption?
How well are your people managing all the moments of truth occuring in your organisation every single day? Is each customer touchpoint enhancing your image and reputation; or are your people squandering the relationship?
Customer service best practice dictates you should have a standard procedure for answering the phone – and here it is.
When you hear any telephone ring
1. On the first ring, stop whatever you are doing. Focus on answering the call.
2. On the second ring, put a smile on your face. Smiling changes the shape of your face and the resonance of your voice. Customers can literally hear you smiling through the phone.
3. Answer after the third ring, and never let it go to four rings.
4. Say your company name or division, then your name; for example: 'Asset Services, this is Jim.'
How memory works
Memory is a fragile and curious thing. Saying 'Jim speaking' is not effective as, 'This is Jim'. 'Speaking as the last word interferes with remembering the person's name. If you make your name the last thing you say, it makes it easier for your caller to remember it.
This is because of the Recency effect - people better remember the last thing they hear.
Using your first name gives your clients a chance to build a relationship with you and your organisation.
Action Summary
1. First ring - stop whatever you are doing.
2. Second ring - put a smile on your face.
3. Answer after the third ring with, <Your company or division>,
this is <your name.>
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Customer Service Tip
Employee Satisfaction is Key to Customer Satisfaction, New University Study Reveals
by Nina Sunday
A new customer service study from University of Missouri published this month in the Journal of Service Research finds that companies who focus on employee satisfaction will find:
While Groening and co-authors studied a large franchise with 300 outlets, 933 employees and 20,700 customers, they believe the results apply to any size business.
'The relationships among the CEO, the employees and the customers are all linked.
Following his study, Groening recommends the following actions, based on answers from the employee survey questions, to increase employee satisfaction:
• Hire managers who mentor employees and who honour company policy in the same way employees are expected to.
'While many of these actions might seem like common sense, they can be difficult to maintain,' Groening said.
For Customer Service training for your group of 10-16 staff in your organisation's training room or for a speaker at your conference, visit our Customer Service training web page
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