Does your Customer Service Suck?

"Happy customers are your biggest advocates and can become your most successful sales team." - Lisa Masiello

As many businesses suffer with the continual occurrences of staff resigning, staff being off sick, and staff having Covid related instances there has been a noticeable decline of customer service standards across nearly all industries. Hospitality and retail are real standouts, but it has also swept through many other industries including professional services, the trades, and education.

Whose fault, is it? Hard to say. Most Business Owners I speak with are overwhelmed, out of control, and exhausted. Many of their employees are in the same boat. Some hospitality businesses have reduced their hours so they have the right number of staff to serve customers as they should be served. Others, put up with the continual complaints of poor customer service just to get through and survive. All of these businesses have suffered unusually high staff turnover with potential replacements being very scarce.

Some examples of poor customer service I have heard of recently, include hospitality staff handling an issue in a very rude manner, an insurance company taking four weeks to provide paperwork, a long wait for coffee and then the meal, fast food deliveries being thirty minutes to an hour late, being told a car part will take two weeks to arrive when it actually took four weeks, an advertising company who has still has not provided quotes after three months, and waiting for a builder who just never shows up. This is with the customer constantly following up and their calls being ignored.

Many consumers have been patient with slow, poor, or no service for the pass couple of years due to the Covid factor, but that excuse is wearing thin, and these customers are now looking for alternatives that make their lives and their buying decisions easier. In the past, in regional areas, there was little or no choice in whom you bought something from. These days, and going forward, consumers have more choice than ever and no longer have to buy locally. It is a tough situation for Business Owners to be in.  

So, in these uncertain times what can we do? The main thing is to remember that without customers we don’t have a business, so we need to ensure that we are a customer focused organisation. They are the reason we exist. We need to look after the needs of our staff because without them we can’t look after the customer properly and employees need to understand that customer service is everyone’s responsibility and without the customer there are no jobs. 

Good communication is the key. If there is a hold up with a quote, order, or delivery ring, email, or text the customer and let them know what is happening before the client has to contact you. Apologise when you and your staff are in the wrong as the customer is nearly always right. Resolve issues quickly in an assertive and professional manner. Give the customer the benefit of the doubt. Lastly, treat the customer as you would like to be treated, as this mindset goes a long way in lifting your customer service standards and keeping customer’s long term.