“Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.” ~Bill Gates
The golden rule for every business man is this: “Put yourself in your customer’s place.” – Orison Swett Marden
Dealing with customer problems effectively is one of the keys to any long running successful business. The cost of acquiring a customer is high enough that you generally don’t want to lose them (I’ll talk about letting unprofitable customers go in a later post). But to what extent should you go to solve the problem? Do you put a Band-Aid on the issue? Do you use the “nuclear option” of a full refund or replacement? And how do you instill the correct attitude in your people? Simple:
Think of the customer's problem as your own This concept conveys a wonderful amount of empathy (understanding and sympathy). But what every person also wants is their problem solved, so it is focused on being constructive as well. This is an easy to convey concept to your employees, but reaps big rewards from customers who might otherwise leave disgruntled.
Like many great ideas, it is simple, but can be tough to put into practice. Not all customers ….. how should I say this ….. encourage an employee to want to sympathize and assist them. That is why it’s essential to give the “why” customer retention is important to your employees (for everyone’s paycheck is a very reasonable explanation). Also, it is something that takes practice for most employees. Do they understand the issue? Do they understand why it is so important to the customer? Do they understand the option that best addresses the customer's need (and doesn't break the company's budget)?
I recommend spot checks with your employees. Just walk up and roll play the latest issue you dealt with or heard about. Do they meet the above three criteria? If you do this regularly your employees will be pros at keeping the company's greatest assets, its customers.
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