This Is How Great Service Turns Your Angry Customers into Your Best Advocates

It is Customer Service Appreciation Week (10/1 to 10/5) so now is the perfect time to reflect on why your CS department does so much more for your company’s bottom line than just take calls from customers. Turning a dissatisfied customer into a happy one should be one of the main goals of any business. Unhappy customers leave and often never return and in the age of social media, can be disastrous to your image.

Research shows that finding and acquiring a new customer costs your company about five times more than it does to keep a current one happy. In addition, loyal customers spend an average of about 65 percent more than a new one. That is a serious boost to your bottom line. 

So why do companies fail to give their employees the tools they need to make dissatisfied customers happy?  Companies unintentionally hamstring their customer service pros when attempting to build unshakable loyalty and turn an angry customer into their company’s greatest advocate.

While a positive attitude and attentiveness to the customer’s needs will go a long way towards alleviating most issues, sometimes it takes additional strategies to address problems. 

Here are four customer service strategies that we believe to be the best:

1. Provide adequate time to connect with the customer. 

Many customer service departments run on quota systems that mandate each CSR speak to as many customers as possible. If providing quality service is the backbone of your business, strict quotas make it difficult to communicate fully with the customer. Give them the time to build rapport with the customer. Chances are that you just listening to them will calm the customer down and make the interchange friendly and productive. 

2. Dissect the customer’s issues.  

Staff who don’t feel rushed in their customer interactions are better able to understand the issue(s) and provide corrective steps. Dialogue is the best way for businesses to ask clients additional questions to figure out how to amend any problems or concerns. Keeping the interaction upbeat and friendly while asking detailed questions can help businesses establish a plan of action for the customer. 

3. Give protocol a rest from time to time. 

Inc.com recommends businesses give staff support if they need to do what is the best interest of the customer—even if doing so goes against protocols. A skilled and well-trained employee can make the customer feel special because he or she “bent the rules” while making sure the customer knows that it was a one-time thing. Often, this not only keeps a customer but also creates a freelance brand champion for your company who spreads goodwill to others. 

4. Follow through and then follow up.  

Harvard Business Review advises organizations to put time in following up with customers to see if their concerns were alleviated and if there is anything else the company can do. Making it easy for customers to give additional feedback can create a positive, mutually beneficial relationship and maintain communication. 

From your employee’s point of view, here are three rules management should let them live by and support when they make decisions on the fly:

Rule No. 1:  

Operate within the rules and regulations of your industry. Make sure whatever help or advice you give is within the legal and ethical boundaries of the trade. Accounting has been a particularly sensitive one in this regard, but it does not matter what department you belong.

Rule No. 2:  

If, after getting all background information, you act in the best interest of a customer, the company supports your decision. The customer's needs come first--even if you go against another protocol. Your manager supports this and so will executive level management.

Rule No. 3:  

You should be comfortable seeing whatever you do in customer service show up the next day on your Facebook or Twitter feed, or the front page of a newspaper. You should always meet this standard in a decisive moment: If we recorded your interactions with a customer, would you be proud of what you did?

Dealing with a difficult customer can be challenging for even the most seasoned professional, and there will be times when you will inevitably lose one. That’s called doing business. However, providing workers with the tools they need to resolve an issue can go a long way to keep clients happy and maintain powerful and positive relationships. In today’s world, just make sure you are not handcuffing your employees.