Support, Follow-Up and Service Attitude

51% of consumers choose the companies they will do long-term business with by "Attitude" factors: approachability of staff, friendliness, exchange and return policies, after-sale service, support and troubleshooting and how easy it is to talk to someone. A smaller number, 44% of consumers choose "product knowledge" as their main purchasing decision (so why companies only train in product knowledge and not Attitude factors is a complete freakin' mystery to me).

More people are using the Internet to research before they buy. They get product information as well as reviews from users and customers before they set foot in a business. Yet businesses still train their people primarily in product knowledge. What they don't do (and they should) is train people how to smile and enjoy what they are doing. 

Customers are "revenue" and you, the employee, are "expense." Let's be clear on the respective roles in business.

So how is it possible that some supposedly-smart, well-educated and experienced VP of Customer Service could make the intentional decision to remove direct contact between their customers and the service/support centers. Who could possibly think that an automated phone tree that requires you to press six or seven menu choices, talk to a voice robot, submit a service ticket or wait on hold for a half-hour is GOOD service? How could anyone with that attitude even be remotely considered for promotion to VP of Customer Service? Whoever made that decision is an idiot.

You may have spent an extra two years of your life getting your MBA, Mr. VP, but your customers have spent a lifetime developing their expertise as a customer. Their experience trumps your schooling. Try not to be so book-smart and common-sense stupid. If your attitude in Customer Service isn't focused on your making it easier for your customers to interact with you then your attitude sucks.

This isn't the 2007 drunken orgy of economic delights anymore. People aren't throwing their money around madly buying anything they can get their hands on. This isn't a time when customer service doesn't matter anymore. This is 2009 and we're in an economic time when families and business alike have pushed their "reset' buttons. They want value. They want quality. They are willing to pay a fair price. And most of all, customers want service - to feel like their business means something.

The "un-service" attitude you took in 2005-2007 when you installed your automated responses, phone-tree-like systems and help-desk tickets need to be re-thought. Customers want to communicate with you and buy from you because you can be reached. Making it harder for them to do so will only annoy them.

In a time of social networking, when communication and connection is supposed to be improving, why is service getting worse? Why is it that a customer can communicate with a CEO on Twitter but can't get anyone in that same company's customer service department to return their calls? How can people speak directly with Presidents, public figures and celebrities around the world but have to wait on hold for a half-hour and before finally speaking to someone in a South Asian country, thousands of miles from the people who sold them the product? How is that possible? Because apparently the companies could care less. If they cared more, they would do more. But by their inaction, their corporate culture and corporate attitude says, "good enough." Their corporate attitude is that everyone has come to expect that level of service. They believe that they don't have to do any better than their mediocre competitors.

The truth is, the more barriers you put between you and your customers increases the likelihood that your customers will view your company unfavorably and at the first opportunity will take their business someplace else.

And stop lying to your customers. You know that framed Mission Statement in your lobby claiming you offer superior customer service? Well that's a lie. You force your customers to jump through hoops to be able to talk to a real person when they need help so you are NOT offering superior service. You offer mediocre service. Superior customer service is doing what the others refuse to do.

Shut down the voice mail trees, the too-many-choices phone menus, the 24-72 hour response to emails and half-hour wait times on hold. Instead, give your customers Live Chat online in real time, comprehensive FAQ sections on your web site that offer real solutions to everyday problems and give them "how-to" videos online so that they can use your product correctly and even fix it themselves if they have a problem. Most of all, let a real person answer the phone in a timely manner - even if they are in another country. Just give customers a human to talk to that your customers don't have to wait a half-hour or more to speak to.

You're not the only ones who are busy. Your customers are too. Customers vote with their dollars. Don't make them jump through hoops. That attitude sucks and, when the time comes that someone else is willing to treat your customers better than you, your customers will spank you financially for treating them like they don't matter to you.

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Attitude w/ ATTITUDE

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