Here are some customer care tips, in response to a business situation I just came across. I thought this situation could have been handled better by the vendor on the opposite end.
I want to share how this vendor could have improved my customer experience in this interaction, and the lessons I learned. I’d like to help you avoid similar problems with your customers.
I called into a vendor because I was having a problem using the product I bought from them. Problems happen. While I did resolve the problem eventually, the company failed in many ways to create a positive buyer experience.
My buyer experience would have been better in several ways:
- The responder could have helped me instead of having to transfer me.
Lesson 1- Equip the first responder to help the customer.
- The responder could have known the information I just entered automatically into their system without having to ask me live for the same information again. The same thing happened all over, once transferred. I gave my name and zip code to four people before talking to the fifth person who actually helped me. This doesn’t give me the warm and fuzzies.
Lesson 2- Integrate your systems. (Hint: While I appreciate the importance of account security, I prefer to answer less rather than more identification and security questions.)
Lesson 3 – Train the first responder to find the information to avoid repetition and waste time.
- The person who helped solve my problem should have been the same person to follow up in an appropriate timeframe.
Lesson 4 – Providing one point of contact to take you from problem to resolution, where feasible, is great customer service.
- The person who helped solve my problem should have actually placed a follow up call, since the person did offer to call and follow up.
Lesson 5- Be true to your word. Do what you say you are going to do or don’t say it.
Customer centric inbound processes have a profound impact on the customer experience. Make it a positive experience. Firms spends lots of marketing dollars acquiring customers, don’t fall short when it comes to retaining customers. It is costly.