Customers who plunge into purchases that result to unsatisfactory performance dread the moment when they have to notify the shop they patronized because more often than not, poor post-sales customer service handling is what is expected.  Breakdown of an item do happen, albeit rarely.  But if businesses learn how best to handle these rare post-sales customer issues well, threat can actually turn into opportunity for return businesses from the complainants themselves.  Here’s a short sample of how that can happen.

Last winter, a blogger client decided to shell out $170 to have a fire grate made in his new home.   After installation, the customer was satisfied with his purchase.  Craftsmanship appeared impeccable, functionality and operations, smooth.  But after only twenty fires, the whole device started to lose shape, bend in several places and eventually conked out.   Generally, this would instantly be concluded as a bad purchase and will result to irritation and dissatisfaction.  Coming from an active blogger, this can spell disaster and bad publicity for the shop and the product itself.

Fortunately, the client is a sensible man. He has professed he generally avoids conflicts at all costs.  Placing the problem in the back-burner, so to speak, for a couple of weeks so as to delay the eventual confrontation of the problematic item, the client finally realized he should take it back.   “Sorry, mate, our guarantee only extends to 14-days” or “Sorry but you shouldn’t have kept using it” were the standard parroted words expected.  One cannot really blame him for expecting those.

Upon placing the complaint formally on the counter’s shop, lo and behold, he got the surprise of his life!  How so?  The fellow who received his concerns promptly apologized for the item delivered and immediately laid out a resolution plan complete with timelines.   Instead of referring to the client as a “mate,” the shop fellow pleasantly referred to the client by his first name on his apology immediately striking a more personal, professional connection and at the same time, pacifying the irritation and offering a resolution that would be done within two days!  The end result? The problematic fire grate was fixed on the same day at no extra charge.

Now that is what you call Impeccable Customer Service Handling.

“How you handle customer complaints can create an opportunity to promote your business.”

Clients acknowledge that although products are supposed to deliver what they promised in their unique selling propositions, problems do arise and mistakes do happen.  From the business owner’s perspective, the learning here is how best to handle situations like these when they arise so as to ensure continued patronage and understanding from their business providers.

The blogger client who was pleasantly surprised of the experience did, as expected, blog about the whole thing.  In his online article, he swore he could tell the fellow who handled his complaint resolution had no formal training in corporate customer service.  However, what set this fellow apart from his peers is that he took ownership of the business, exercised wise judgment, and did what seemed right.  In business-speak, this bright fellow listened to his customer’s request, offered a reasonable resolution, provided a sensible timeline and delivered.

Don’t get it wrong: good customer service handling does not mean giving in to every whim and fancy of complaining customers.  Admittedly, there are moments when clients are simply unreasonable.  But in every situation, there is a solution.  The only message this article wishes to imbibe is that good customer service handling, especially post-sales, is another important selling experience a client must enjoy.  Have a good ear for listening, be sensible and mature about your options and deliver promptly.  The last of these elements is as essential as the first: delivery.  After all, nobody likes to be delayed. Nobody likes to wait. Prompt action not only delivers but it also seals the deal.

How businesses handle customer complaints reflect how clients will look at them for similar future requirements.  Handled well, these once irate customers can turn into loyal, happily raving patrons.  Search for that blog of the fire grate blogger client – he has sworn he’d buy another fire grate soon at Flash Weld in Mornington, Victoria.

In the digital age of communications, business owners scramble to cover all data information highways just to ensure that the target market finds their product or service immediately and if the need to purchase it arises, the avenues to contact, inquire and seal the deal is present.  Speed and availability is the name of the game.  Sadly though, the abundance of these so-called avenues often does not match the time and focus business owners must allocate to keep everything going all at the same time.  More than helping, too much glass balls over a juggler’s head may end in disaster especially for serious consumers who expect to basic customer service: attention.

Take this multinational cosmetic production company, for instance. With all their paid advertisements and collaterals plastered with their official website and fan pages, one blogger shared that she once tried to write them a straightforward note via the contact form available on their website for something about their product to be further clarified.  Upon hitting the ‘send’ button, a computer-generated reply promptly appeared in her inbox thanking her for her very important query with a smart assurance of “We will get back in touch soon.”

Unfortunately, several months have passed and yet, no “getting back in touch soon” happened.  To most clients, this is a sign that that company clearly does not feel that that effort poured into contacting them did not merit any kind of reaction so they will simply bring their business elsewhere.   This is a glass ball falling to the ground in pieces.

Remember that no matter what the size your business is or how wide your distribution network covers, you are not only responsible for managing customer expectations by letting your customer know how to contact you but also to actually pay attention to your customers by ensuring all these contact information centers are manned and attended to.

Review where your target market is and what avenues are easily available to them.  Is it landline voice calls, facsimile, short messaging services or email through your company website?   Depending on your capabilities to handle these lines, prioritize which ones you will adopt and ensure sustained interaction in them once you make them available and known to the public.  Beware of falling into what others call the “Always Available” trap by giving customers every option available just because you can take advantage of it but not really be capable of sustaining it in the long run.  A phone line that goes unanswered can be more detrimental to your business than an unpublished number.

Your customers are sensible enough to understand that you are not going to be available 24/7 (unless you are in the business of saving lives) but when you say “Thank you for your inquiry. We will get back in touch soon,” mean it.

In my spare time I make it a point to drive through the local mall and stroll within its hallways just looking at the endless lines of well instituted pubs and shops.   I cannot help but read through most of their labels and brands.  One thing I have continually noticed on countless occasions: their business logos which would bear the words “Established in ___ or Since ___.”   Looking back at it now, I can only ask myself, how do they do that?  Just how do they manage to put up a business then keep it through the years even through the centuries?

In the world of competitive trades and economics it is not a brilliant idea for a budding businessman to slash prices in half every time business opens.  This is what one of our internet bloggers recently realized.  He concluded, that it is impractical to lower your prices to assume a leverage of some sort from other business ventures as this will surely bring an untimely demise on your business endeavor.  Instead, he insisted on keeping one trade secret: encouragement of service culture.

What is service culture all about?  It is simply the expounded idea of the age-old rule: give and take.  That is, a transaction is considered complete if the services your customers received are enough to motivate them to return.  This is encouraging customer loyalty.   Customers need to feel valuable.  Once they are made to feel that they are needed and that they are important they will come back for more.  That is human nature.  Besides, loyal customers are the best publicity. As the saying goes:

“ Not only do loyal customers spend more, they also help your business to grow by bringing in more new customers. ”

Creating customer awareness, channeling your principal message and crafting customer loyalty takes time and effort.  However with the help of service culture, these can be made effortless.  It is best to keep in mind three important steps: first, determine a shared goal between the business and its customers. Second, maintain rapport.  That is, keep an open communication.  And third, generate positive feelings.  Use compliments,  and personalized messages to convey gratitude and appreciation.  Don’t get me wrong, service culture is not present within the transaction level.  It is seen during the time when customers are not with the business men and they are not well within the business area.

Looking back, I have reached a level of understanding about how brilliantly these established businesses created a group of customers and kept them loyal all these years.  I can only imagine how intricately they have managed to weave three important factors: the establishment of a common goal, the introduction of an open communication and the building of rapport which are truly exquisite they have kept the business going.  Trust, in its most fundamental sense of the word, is a indeed a product of loyalty.  Customer loyalty is the key to win the ruthless competition in the alternate universe of a traders’ world.

Ever wondered why companies left and right spend millions of advertising dollars just to come up with loyalty cards and programs for their business? It is simple: it is because they have realized that loyalty leaders in business who more often than not design their whole business systems around customer loyalty rise up to be winners in the end. If you start wishing your business to harness this intangible trait of allegiance with your existing customers and take steps towards its realization, you and your business should be bound for success as well.

Client loyalty is the act with which happy customers adopt making them come back to patronize a chosen product or service.  It is a self-imposed system wherein a company strives to deliver high impeccable quality in all their products or services all the time making high-quality and able customers stay with them for the long haul.  In some successful cases, even company employees turn into these happy customers that customer loyalty transcends market place walls.

Owing to the fact that the rate of return for high customer loyalty is measurable, businesses today are jumping into the celebration wagon.  When a business owner consistently produces products or services of value and win customer loyalty, market share, bottom lines and top lines all rise while the cost to acquire new customers goes down.  How so? Loyal customers do a business much service through word of mouth advertising and referrals without the company having to spend any advertising dollars further!

Various ways are available today for companies to capture customer loyalty among their current client base.  Programs in the form of incentives or risk-free trial periods for a product or service are some of the ways a business can introduce this scheme.  Cash outlay at the onset may appear big and daunting but in the long run, the high yield these programs deliver drive up profits and expenditures essential to attract new patrons.

Despite these new ways of attracting and keeping your target market to patronize your excellent product or service line, remember that there is still no excuse from delivering excellent customer service at each and every transaction, be it pre- or post-sales, to support the thrust you are introducing to your clients.  After all, “nothing is harder to regain than lost trust” and to earn customer loyalty, consistency is a vital key.

A blogger mentioned before that “People do business with people they trust.” That much is true. A client will only bring their business to people they perceive to be trustworthy not only in business dealings but also, those who they perceive to be knowledgeable – an expert in their area – whose high dependability to deliver what they promise is without doubt.

Today is the age of being critical – when customer trust is hard to win unless you successfully settle all the doubts in their head.  Keep in mind that building trust is a slow process but once won, you reap the benefits for your business in the end.

Time and time again, I’m sure you’ve heard of how living it has changed people, businesses, and industries. If you haven’t heard of it, then you need to go out there more and maybe experience it yourself. I’m talking about exceptional customer service.

In a recent business trip to Hong Kong, some colleagues and I went to a restaurant for dinner. Another colleague was running late and called up to ask for directions on how to get there from a certain landmark. The cab driver seemed to have missed the exact address and dropped him off a few blocks away.

Being in an unfamiliar place, we asked the restaurant manager to give him directions over the phone. Even with the directions, our colleague still can’t seem to find the location. After a few minutes, the restaurant manager borrowed the phone and went out of the restaurant to personally look for him and escort him to the place.

Now, that’s going the extra mile! I know exceptional customer service when I see it.

This experience got me thinking as to when the last time I provided exceptional service to a customer was. During my reflection, I gave myself a very honest answer. I always knew that I provided good customer service; and customers can attest to this. I just can’t remember the last time I provided  service that was exceptional. As a fellow business owner, I am now challenging you to ask yourself that same question.

Realistically speaking, it would be impossible to always go out-of-the-way for every customer at every moment of every day. It is possible, however, for you to plan ahead and offer exceptional customer service every now and then. Think of the difference it would make to yourself, your business, and your customers.

So, I am now challenging you to demonstrate exceptional customer service to one of your clients by following some guidelines below.

1. In terms of business relationships, think of a customer you’d like to build a stronger working relationship with.

2. On a customer service standpoint, think of ways on what you can do to add more value to the relationship. Make sure that it’s over and above what you or your business normally offer.

3. Plan ahead and go do it.

Think of the endless possibilities of doing this to each and every one of your customers can bring to your business.  Visualize how your business will benefit if you turn a neutral customer into a promoter, or a promoter to an advocate. How do you think would you and your customers feel? How would this impact you and your business? What would this change in the way you or your customers do business?

It might just be that exceptional customer service is the ‘difference that makes the difference’ to your customers.