Client care is supposed to be what happens when a client needs support in resolving a problem, right? It’s not supposed to be an example of irony or sarcasm.
Whether your business had tens of thousands of customers or just ten, the customer care experience speaks volumes about whether you value the client relationship or just the sale. It’s part of your ongoing marketing strategy to keep your clients happy, resolve any areas of dissatisfaction, and hopefully even turn your customers into happy ambassadors for your products and services.
I’ve had some fairly “interesting” and diverse experiences being on the receiving end of “client care.” Some have been unbelievably frustrating and unsatisfactory. And a few, a rare few, have truly restored my faith in humanity.
At one end of the spectrum there is the situation where you as the dissatisfied customer have to do all the spadework and feel like you’re just being a nuisance to the client care staff. A while ago I pre-ordered a product to take advantage of pre-launch pricing.When the product didn’t arrive when promised it took me several rounds of emails and inquiries to get to the bottom of it. Why? Because all of the “customer service” responses I got were clearly canned, generic responses. Nobody bothered to look at my specific order and discover it was being held up because I hadn’t confirmed my shipping address. I didn’t because I wasn’t asked to, and my shipping address was on the receipt I was given.
Another client care “fail” was when an online app didn’t perform properly. A process that should have taken 10 minutes to be rendered and made available on the platform instead took 8 hours, causing me to miss a deadline. When I inquired about it, I got incomplete and boilerplate answers about where I could find my files (“I know where to find the files, but the issue is that your platform didn’t create a file in the timeframe that was promised!”). Sigh! After bulleting out my specific questions, and asking that they be answered directly, my file was passed on to someone who actually was helpful. But it took 3 go-arounds with poor client care to get there.
But there are times when client care goes beyond my expectations. I used a parking app called “Honkmobile” for my car, and although I selected the right car on my iphone, the app applied my parking payment to the wrong car. So I paid $20 for a day of parking and found a $45 parking ticket on my dashboard. I emailed their customer care that evening about the situation. Within 45 minutes I heard back from a wonderful woman named Kacey and we spoke. I explained the situation and she promptly said, “I’m so sorry you had this experience. Please send me the ticket, and I’ll negotiate on your behalf with the parking lot to get it cancelled.” Before noon the very next day, Kacey told me the ticket was taken care of, and I also received confirmation of that from the parking lot company as well.
How you handle client care says a lot about the values you have as a company. Sustaining success in a competitive marketplace requires putting a premium on building a relationship with your client that exists, whether or not an actual sale was made in that moment.
Terrible customer service stories can go viral easily through social media, and it can be costly to regain the reputation and brand you want to establish. When Kacey from Honkmobile delivered such great service to me, I shared about it on my social media platforms (and am writing about it in my blog) because I really appreciate the solution she found!
Here are 3 principles I feel are essential to ensuring you deliver meaningful and effective client care:
1. Acknowledge
In any situation where there is conflict or a dispute, a great first step is to acknowledge the other person. Offering acknowledgement helps diffuse tension and sets the stage for a more productive and respectful interaction.
In some of the other examples, I could tell the client care team was “listening” in order to pigeon-hole my question into some pre-sent answer and to deflect their responsibility for the disappointing experience I had. Big mistake!
The first thing Kacey from Honkmobile said was “I’m so sorry you had this experience.” She didn’t get right to problem-solving and figuring out the facts, but she demonstrated empathy and sincerity.
Take the time to really listen to your customer first.
2. Focus on the Individual
We have the means to automate many systems, processes and forms of communications, but when it comes to client care you need to focus on the individual. Automated cut-and-paste responses might save you time, but they often fall far short of providing excellent client care. Put yourself in the client’s shoes and troubleshoot where things went off the rails and how you, through great client care, can resolve the situation.
Customers with a complaint aren’t problems. They are actually helping you by showing you where you can improve how you deliver your service. Theodore Roosevelt said it best: “People don’t care how much you know, until they know how much you care.”
3. Be Authentic and Honest
Customers have so many options as to where they can take their business, and it’s important to be authentic and honest in your dealings with them.
For example, one service provider I used shared that a third-party website redesign was creating some technical glitches for them that was impacting their service and they were still debugging their programs. That level of honesty didn’t make me lose respect for them or switch my business. It actually built their credibility to me and helped me understand they knew what the problem was and that they were working on it.
Let your clients know what to expect in the process of resolving their issue. Be willing to partner with them and have a two-way dialogue to ensure the see the “support” part of “customer support” being demonstrated, and not just being given lip service.
This article was originally published on Brilliance Mastery’s blog on BrillianceMastery.com.
