This may seem like a rhetorical question, but
stop and think about your business ― from your CUSTOMER's
perspective, ask yourself: Is your organization truly easy
to do business with?
I recently called a local auto dealer to schedule routine
maintenance on my car. I spoke with the Service Manager who
was very nice. He was very efficient, in fact too efficient.
He hung up on me while I was in the process of asking to
speak with a salesperson.
I've always liked the dealership so I called back. The Service
Manager answered the phone. I told him that we'd just spoken
and that he had hung up on me! I assured him I didn't think
it was intentional, but that he was merely in a hurry. I also
explained that I wanted to speak with a salesperson.
He apologized, thanked me and hung up – again! I called
back a third time and a salesperson answered the phone (thank
goodness!). After answering my questions about a new vehicle
I wanted to purchase I asked to speak with the General Manager.
The GM was pleasant until I explained my concern -- that in
their effort to deliver fast service they were delivering poor
service. His response was a very defensive and loud, "You
did it wrong! You should have called sales first and asked
them to transfer you to service!!"
I did it wrong.
Now, I'm sure this car dealer thinks he's real easy to do
business with. I disagree. How many of your customers would
call you three times to make a single purchase? Not many, I
would bet. Now, I'm questioning whether to do business with
this dealership in the future. Like all customers, I have a
lot of places to choose from when deciding where to spend my
money. You can bet your last dollar I'm going to think twice
about choosing someone who yells at me.
And I'm not going to do business with an organization that
makes me jump through hoops to do business their way, either.
This is especially true when "their way" is not
transparent. How was I supposed to know that if service answers
the phone I am supposed to ask for sales first and then ask
sales to transfer me back to service?
Why couldn't I just take care of my service issues while I
had service on the line?
Nor am I going to do business with someone who doesn't know
how to handle customer comments. That's Business Basics 101.
Organizations that have not mastered "How to Handle Customer
Comments" are not worth patronizing. They take too much
time, which means they're not easy. Take a look at the process
your customers go through.
Where does your company make doing business more difficult
than it needs to be?
How can you make it easier for the customer? Easier for you?
It's worth taking the time. After all, with all things being
equal, it's human nature to follow the path of least resistance.
That means your customers and prospects are going to do business
wherever they find it to be easiest.
Try this: Periodically call -- or ask a customer friend to
call -- your place of business with a specific customer service-related
issue and find out for yourself how effective your personnel
are at dealing with customer service problems. If your customer
friend has the equipment to tape record the call, you may wish
to use the recording as a training tool at an upcoming customer
service meeting.
About the Author. Bill Lee is
author of 30 Ways Managers Shoot Themselves in the Foot and
Gross Margin: 26 Factors Affecting Your Bottom Line . See http://www.BillLeeOnLine.com
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