ward your more challenging customers.
We put out the following query to a group of experts: “Gladys is the consummate difficult customer. Have YOU ever been a difficult customer? What could your service provider have done to soothe your angst?”
The follow answers were the top 25 responses. Notice which ones you currently use, which ones are news, and which ones you’ll put into place today.
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Dealing with HOT Buttons
Hot button: the threshold that governs when an incident brings out our signature version of the Hulk. Mine is pushed over fairness.I bought a sleeper-sofa and had it delivered–my first experience with this furniture store. The salesperson neglected to mention that the mattress on the $900 sofa bed was a “pretend”? mattress, one you might endure only for a short night after partying late! I called the store and was told: an upgrade mattress would cost $60 but the pretend mattress could not be returned. And, there was no free delivery on the upgrade.
Mattresses don’t fold up neatly in the back seat of a car. A friend with a truck and a day off came to my rescue. With agreement from the store, I mailed a check for $60 so my friend could pick up and transport the mattress. Two weeks later I received a bill for $1.80 with a note: “You neglected to pay tax on the upgraded mattress. Remit immediately so we can balance our books!” I never returned to the store!
Lesson? Focus on the relationship value, not just the transaction cost. Treat customers like valued partners, especially when their hot button has been pushed.
Chip R. Bell is the author (with John R. Patterson) of Take Their Breath Away: How Imaginative Service Creates Devoted Customers. He is also the author (with Ron Zemke) of Knock Your Socks off Service Recovery He can be reached through www.taketheirbreathaway.com.
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Trust as a HOT Button
Hot button: what is pushed when as a customer we feel we have been wronged. Most people’s hot button? when pushed, turns them into a very upset alien-like creature. My 5 children tell me my BIG hot button? is about trust.
I was traveling with my daughter’s soccer team in Oklahoma recently. The girls wanted a Mexican food dinner so, armed with a recommendation from our hotel, we went to a place near the University. The food was decent but the service was terrible! Poor service sends me rapidly into ugly alien mode, especially when I am with a group. I approached our server about the slowness of our dinners and he apologized, indicated that several of us would dine for free and said he would work hard to improve our experience.
We did get our dinner shortly thereafter but when he presented the check, my daughter quickly caught that alien like look on my face and suggested to the team that they rapidly evacuate. Not only had our server failed to keep his promise regarding the free dinners, he had included an 18% gratuity! After completing a very direct lecture with the server, I sought out his manager for one more lecture. The manager quickly realized the problem, apologized, removed the meals and the gratuity. We returned to the hotel and immediately let everyone know this was not a place they should visit!
Lesson? Always keep your promises. Trust is tough to earn and very easy to lose, especially when a hot button has been pushed.
John R. Patterson is the author (with Chip R. Bell) of Take Their Breath Away:? How Imaginative Service Creates Devoted Customers. He can be reached through www.taketheirbreathaway.com.
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A Lemon Laptop
Apple computers must have my photo and account number on a plaque somewhere. If I’m not an urban legend there, I’m surprised. After winning a MacBook in a contest in 2006, I soon learned my Apple was a lemon. Forty plus phone calls, three years, three hard drives, three new batteries and two new power cords later I have had only half of the things wrong with my Mac fixed. My premium warranty ran out and so has my patience. Where Apple failed was in their decision not to replace the laptop sometime after the 20th call and the second hard drive. Customer service would smile and be nice, but say, “Sorry, we can’t help you.”
I spent three years convincing everyone I met NOT to buy a Mac computer. While Apple was friendly, their customer service people were impotent. The techs admitted I had a lemon, but said they were powerless? to replace the laptop. Did they save money by stiffing me? Maybe. But they lost thousands more because it is my goal in life to warn away other consumers. Save a dime, lose a dollar. All they had to do to soothe my angst was replace the laptop.#p#分页标题#e#
Becky Blanton is a TED Global 2009 speaker, published author and journalist, a ghostwriter, vandweller and Mac hater.
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Hard-Hearted Hannah
It was late on a Saturday afternoon. I was in the midst of a project and realized I needed a yard of fabric I was sure was available at Calico Corners. Hopped in my car, headed across the Golden Gate Bridge to the nearest CC in the ‘burbs of Marin County. Got to the mall, found parking and raced to the door.? It was — I would bet $1,000 — 5:58 p.m., closing time at 6 p.m. Already the door was locked, and a woman was standing there just allowing people to leave. In fractured charade motions, I explained I wanted “just two minutes for one thing”. She shook her head no, pointed to her watch and said they were closed. Oh, I pleaded. “I just drove all the way over here — maybe 8 or 10 miles — so that I could finish this project tonight. Oh please!” Hard-hearted Hannah just ignored me and walked away from the door. Needless to say, I’ve never gone back there.
What could she have done?? She could have let me in to make a purchase! OR, if there’s a German shepherd that’s released at 6:00 p.m. exactly, she could have told me the reason for her stringent policy.
Joan O’Connor, www.timelesstreasuressf.com, retail business owner, Timeless Treasures “because you love vintage home furnishings and gifts with whimsy, comfort and style.”
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Don’t Do It!
Don’t say, “You’ll have to calm down, sir or ma’am.” It makes my blood boil and I go from irritated to irate.
Don’t say there’s nothing you can do. There always is, even if it is only to listen.
David Couper, www.davidcoupercoach.com, http://blog.davidcoupercoach.com.
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Membership Card Mayhem
When purchasing items at Duane Reade, my local drugstore, I forgot my Bonus Membership card. The purchase amount would earn me the points for a ‘dollars off’? coupon, which I wanted. Since Duane Reade keeps Bonus Member information online, I gave the counter person my last name to type in. She did so but said it was not in the database. Having a last name that is often misspelled, I spelled it out. She typed it in again and nothing. I happen to know that no matter how many times I spell my last name, people tend to insert a
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