Archive for Customer Service

Help Desk Woes

by Andrea J. Stenberg
December 29th, 2008

Earlier in December I signed up for a trail version of a membership site from a well-known internet marketer. I wasn’t sure if I’d have time to put it to use so I set up a reminder for myself to cancel the membership if I wasn’t using it.

When the reminder popped up last week I couldn’t even remember the URL of the site – that’s how little I used it. After digging around I found it and located the “help desk”. After much digging in the FAQs I located a webpage with instructions on how to cancel my membership. How simple is that?

Turns out, not so simple. You have to enter your login and password info in order to cancel. If I couldn’t easily find the URL for this site, how easy do you think it was for me to find that info? But, not to worry. I entered my email address in the “lost your password” field.

Now most password retrieval systems send a new temporary password to your email address. Not this site. I was asked the name of my favorite pet. Now I’m fairly certain I never gave them this info, but I dutifully tried every pet I’ve ever had. Big surprise, none worked.

At this point we’re at about 30 minutes of trying to cancel my subscription and I’m no further ahead. But wait, there’s a phone number for customer service. I’ll call that. I dial the long distance number and get a recorded message telling me to go to the website help desk. No way to reach a real person.

Next I sign into the help desk site and send an email “ticket” requesting help. This was late in the day on the 23rd, two days before Christmas. I checked my email at noon on the 24th. No news from the membership site “help” desk. Seeing as Christmas was on a Thursday, I took an extended long weekend and didn’t check my email until today.

This morning I found a message from the nohelp desk saying because I hadn’t responded within 72 hours they’ve closed my ticket. There was no earlier email from them. When I logged into the nohelp site and located my original message there was no reply there as well.

It is now seven days since I first started trying to cancel my membership and I’m no further ahead. I’ve sent another message through the nohelp desk. I’m going to spend some time today working my social media networks to contact Mr. Big Internet Marketer directly. If I don’t get a response by the 31st, I’m going public. It shouldn’t take this long to cancel a membership. Not to mention, if I wasn’t trying to cancel my membership but log in, this wouldn’t be any better.

Mr. Big Internet Marketer has done some real damage with this fiasco. On the 23rd when I first started the Herculean task of cancelling my membership, I wasn’t a disgruntled customer; just someone who didn’t have time to put this service to good use. I might have even considered purchasing from him again in the future.

A week later, I’m really annoyed and working my way up to angry customer from hell. Not only will I never purchase from him again, I’ll tell anyone who asks not to either.

The lesson here is to make your help desk or customer service easy to use – customer friendly if you will. By all means have an FAQ and automated system for simple and frequent requests. But you really need to make it possible for a customer to get help from a real live person. Even a direct email address works. But leaving someone as frustrated as I am is not worth the savings.

Andrea J. Stenberg

Categories Customer Service
Comments (5)

Focusing on Existing Customers Was This Entrepreneur’s Key to Success

by Andrea J. Stenberg
October 31st, 2008

In 2000, Harry Wagter moved to Ontario from Alberta and like many out-of-work baby boomers, he had difficulty finding in job in spite of pundits telling us employers need to court older workers. “I was a dinosaur,” says Harry.

He began looking at purchasing a franchise. “I wanted to buy myself a job.”

Harry was interested in looking at the make-your-own wine industry; an industry not available in Alberta at the time. Doing his homework, Harry visited three head offices of three different chains, discussing his options. Rather than start a business from scratch, Harry asked if anyone had an existing franchise they wanted to sell. There was a franchise available in Owen Sound. It had been in existence for about five years and already on its second owner. Harry became the third owner and moved to Owen Sound.

A full-time employee was working in the store and Harry chose to keep him on. “He didn’t stay long,” says Harry. “But long enough for me to learn the ropes.”

The first thing Harry did was run some radio advertising. This proved really successful as his first two months as new owner his sales were the highest the store had ever seen. But Harry thought he could do even better.

He started looking at the store’s database which contained almost 1300 names. Many of these names were not really customers but names picked up at trade shows. After running the store for six months, Harry decided he needed to find out who were really customers. He hired a telemarketer to call everyone on the list. Her purpose was to introduce Harry as the new owner and to delete numbers not in service or people who weren’t really interested.

The telemarketer was really experienced and did an amazing job for Harry. She worked for two and a half months, calling every name on the list. If someone wasn’t home she didn’t leave a message; she called back until she spoke to a person. Eventually she culled the list to about 400 names. After a few months she called these 400 people back announcing a sale. These two rounds of telemarketing resulted in an increase in sales of almost 40 percent.

With the list culled to 400 names of people who are real customers, Harry could then switch to mailings. Because he new mailings were going to people who are actually interested in buying he could keep his costs down and get a good return on his investment.

After his round of telemarketing, Harry focused on the customer experience. He thought since customers are spending $100 or more each time they come in they should be comfortable and enjoy themselves. He updated the store and focused on creating an enjoyable, relaxing environment.

Next, Harry implemented a customer referral program. When an existing customer refers someone new, they both get a discount. The more someone refers, the more of a discount they get.

Not every marketing attempt has been successful however. Harry tried print advertising. “It doesn’t work for me at all,” Harry said. “I think of it as a colossal waste of money.”

Networking doesn’t work for Harry’s business either. Attending the Chamber of Commerce monthly breakfasts has resulted in one or two sales over four years. “You’d think in a small town it would work but it hasn’t.”

On several occasions Harry also tried creating a newsletter. The professional, glossy newsletters were distributed to 20,000 households. Very few new sales resulted.

One thing Harry has avoided was having sales or competing with other wine-making establishments on price. When you discount you have to work harder for the same money. Instead he focuses on his existing customers, and never offers something to new customers that he doesn’t also offer existing ones. “Why should I offer a discount to someone waling in for their first batch of wine when I have someone coming in for their 15th batch that year?”

Buying an existing business was really the right decision for Harry. “I didn’t have to reinvent the wheel. I just had to do it better than anyone else.” And clearly he has done it better. Since buying the store Harry has grown the business to 900 regular customers and does double the business he did in the first year.

Andrea J. Stenberg

Categories Marketing Basics, Profile
Comments (15)

The Minimum Legal Requirements Aren’t Good Enough!

by Andrea J. Stenberg
April 14th, 2008

Today I am writing about an issue that has me so angry I am shaking. At first it may not seem to be about marketing, but bear with me; the connection will be made clear.

My son has been taking an asthma medication for about a year – it’s been very effective in controlling his asthma and allergies. Just recently – and by accident – we discovered that the American Food and Drug Administration had issued an alert about a possible connection between this drug and “behavior/mood changes, suicidality (suicidal thinking and behavior) and suicide.”

Well, it so happens we’ve been dealing with a dramatic mood change in my son – explosive anger, depression and yes “suicidality”. Upon hearing of the alert, we immediately discontinued use of this medication.

The change in my son’s mood and behavior is dramatic. He is noticeably happier – it’s like I have my old son back.

Today I went into the pharmacy where we got our prescription to complain that we didn’t hear about this warning from them. I was told that because Health Canada hasn’t issued a warning, they hadn’t heard about this. And until Health Canada does issue a warning they won’t be talking to people about this alert.

This is the part that makes this story relevant in a blog about marketing and running a business. The response from the pharmacist is completely unacceptable. This particular pharmacy is not the cheapest in town – we go to it because we felt they gave better advice than other pharmacies in town.

Well, I no longer feel this way and will certainly be considering switching my business. And since my son is on daily asthma medication and my husband also has a daily prescription, this is not an insignificant amount of business.

True, as a Canadian business, the pharmacy is only legally obligated to follow alerts from Health Canada. But a business that provides a service as well as a product, the minimum legal requirements are not good enough. In a competitive marketplace you must go beyond the minimum.

When looking after your customers, are you only providing the minimum required? Probably not. In fact, the most successful businesses try to give their customers a little extra. You don’t need to “give away the farm” but giving a little extra will go a long way to create loyalty.

And when you mess up – as this pharmacy most surely did in my opinion – don’t just quote government regulations. Apologize!

If this pharmacist had been apologetic and sympathetic to my situation, I wouldn’t be as furious as I am. And had he been apologetic, I wouldn’t be switching my business. And I wouldn’t tell everyone I know about the horrific experience – as I intend to do now.

Take a look at your business from the customer’s point of view. Are you giving exemplary service? And when a customer has a complaint or concern, are you addressing it in a way that leaves them feeling satisfied?

We’re only human and can’t be perfect. But when a customer comes to you with a concern about your service, don’t get defensive. Listen and do you best to respond in a way that you would want to be treated if the situation were reversed.

Andrea J. Stenberg

Categories Business Basics, Customer Service
Comments (2)

Good customer service is not about perfection – it’s how you fix your mistakes that counts

by Andrea J. Stenberg
March 5th, 2008

Every business owner who plans to stay in business for the long term tries to provide the best possible products and services to their customers. Satisfied customers are repeat customers – and a source of referral business.And while we may strive for perfection, the truth is we’re human. No one can be perfect – at least not all the time. Maybe you got sick, had a fight with your spouse, it was a full moon. It doesn’t matter. Sooner or later you’re going to drop the ball.

When that day comes, how you handle yourself can be the difference between a lost and angry customer, and a satisfied customer who becomes a walking testimonial.

What do I mean?

Think about your own life as a consumer. Over the years I’m sure there are many times you’ve had less than wonderful service or products that you weren’t satisfied with.

When you’ve complained, what was the response? Some companies try to justify what happened and hide behind policies and procedures. Or you can’t find the person who is responsible or has the authority to help you.

When you didn’t get satisfaction you left feeling frustrated and annoyed. Not only did you not go back to this store, you probably complained about it to anyone who would listen.

Now think about a time where you were unhappy with a product or service where they came through. Where they apologized and refunded your money, replaced the product or did something to make you happy about the situation.

I’ll bet you walked away feeling good about the situation and had warm feelings towards the company. In fact, I’ll be you told several people about what a good experience you had. In fact, I’ll bet you told more people than you would have had there been no problem to begin with.

When you mess up with a customer, don’t panic. And don’t try to make excuses or pass the buck. Just apologize – and mean it.

Next, find a way to make it right. Replace the product, redo the service, or find a different product or service that meets the needs of the customer. If you can’t fix it directly offer some type of compensation – money off on their next purchase, a free gift or even a free meal at a nice restaurant.

Granted, some people will never be satisfied no matter what you do. But the vast majority of people just want to get their money’s worth. If you go the extra mile to be sure they did, they’ll walk away happy. And they’ll tell people about you too.

Andrea J. Stenberg

Categories Business Basics
Comments (0)

Sometimes A Client From Hell Isn’t

by Andrea J. Stenberg
February 25th, 2008

Guy Kawasaki at How to Change the World wrote “Is Your Client a Certified Orifice?”, a brief post about Bob Sutton’s book The No Asshole Rule. I must confess I laughed hilariously when I read both Guy’s post and the title of the book.

If you’ve been in business for any length of time you’ve run across the client from hell; the one who is impossible to please and wants the world but doesn’t want to pay for it. The client who negotiates a deal and then proceeds to break it by demanding more and more. The client who is rude, demanding, calls you at home on a Saturday night then screams at you Monday morning because you weren’t in waiting for the call.

The list goes on.

When you come across the client like this, for many entrepreneurs the key is learning when to fire a client – or listening to your intuition and not taking on a client in the first place. When you’re just starting out you want to take anyone – even when that little voice in the back of your mind is screaming “run away”.

However, there are times when someone looks like a client from hell, acts like a client from hell and sounds like a client from hell. But isn’t. The trick is to know the difference.

Many years ago, in a different lifetime, my husband and I ran a computer store. When you sell computers, you have many customers who are scared of technology. To combat this, we used to have customers take the computer out of the box and set it up in the store before taking it home. This way they could ask any questions and get any help. It made nervous customers feel more confident and cut down on unnecessary calls.

We’d only been in business for about six months when we had our first Christmas. Two days before Christmas, right at closing time we got a call from a customer who had just purchased a computer. The computer was crap, it wouldn’t work, we were awful people and we’d better get over there right away and fix it.

Our policy was that we didn’t do house calls, unless you paid for it. If you had a problem with a computer, you had to bring it in. That said, we could usually talk a customer through a problem over the phone; the most frequent computer defect usually turned out to be a disconnected cable.

My husband’s first inclination was to blow this guy off. He had started the phone call with guns blazing and had set my husband’s back up. Add to the mix that we had our own family Christmas to prepare for plus lots of customers we were still dealing with. He was ready to write this guy off as a client from hell.

But something told me not to let this go. I calmed my husband down and persuaded him to go to the guy’s house even though it was against our policy. After all, it was Christmas.

Less than an hour later he returned a very subdued man. It turns out this irate customer had purchased the computer with his wife as a Christmas present for their grandchildren. Since ordering the computer, his wife had died. This was going to be her last present to the grandkids. He wanted them to be able to wake up Christmas morning and have a working computer waiting for them from Grandma.

There wasn’t anything wrong with the computer. This man just didn’t have anything left in him to wrestle with setting up the computer. His rage at my husband and nothing to do with the computer and everything to do with the curveball life had thrown him.

By taking an hour out of his day, my husband helped this man get through an emotional event without his wife. He made what was going to be a sad Christmas a little happier for some kids. And in the process he created one of our biggest supporters.

I don’t know how I knew that this man wasn’t a client from hell. But I’m glad I listened to my intuition that day.

Andrea J. Stenberg

            
 

Categories Business Basics
Comments (6)
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