Shownotes – Why Your Customers Aren’t Asking for Your Help and How to Fix It
You’re pretty certain your company has a great customer care team, but you hear through the grapevine that your customers are having issues that you are unaware of.
It’s the Hassel Factor. Customers aren’t as upset about the glitching of the product, a different experience than they were promised, or unmet expectations as they are about having to deal with it.
The customer understands that things will go wrong occasionally. Most customers are reasonable and adaptable. But what they will avoid if possible is the headache and hassle of trying to fix it.
Only when it’s become too unbearable that they finally reach out and then encounter more headaches trying to fix it.
Frustrations often cited by customers-
- Not knowing exactly which department, number, or who to call for help
- Reaching an auto-attendant that doesn’t offer an option that best fits their need
- Getting transferred and having to retell their story too many times.
- When they do reach the right person, customers then have to jump through hoops they feel they really shouldn’t have to or know how to. They feel it has somehow become their problem to solve.
Where are your customers rolling their eyes when they call your company for help to fix something or ask a question?
In Accenture’s 2013 Global Consumer Pulse Survey, it states that that customers are increasingly frustrated with the level of services they experience: 91 percent respondents are frustrated that they have to contact a company multiple times for the same reason; 90 percent by being put on hold for a long time and 89 percent by having to repeat their issue to multiple representatives.
Lack of empathy is always a challenge for customer support and success teams to overcome.
Many customers feel that they are just going to have policies and processes thrown at them as a way to avoid having to help the customer. Customers become used to being told No.
All of these issues are completely fixable!
Here’s how to fix these issues…
- Call your customer support team AS A CUSTOMER. Dissect anything and everything you experience LOOKING FOR PROBLEMS to fix.
- How many options does your auto-attendant have? If you have one, limit the options to 3. And for the love of all things good…. do not have that option put them into yet another auto attendant where they have to make another choice.
- How do your representatives sound on the phone with clients? Your customers are already avoiding you for the snarkiness or the lack of interest your staff may be displaying. You need to hear it for yourself. You need to call multiple times and speak with several people.
- Train your teams to the service levels you expect them to deliver. If you don’t specifically show them the expectations you have, the fault stays on you.
- Start looking at your processes and requirements. What are you asking the customer to do that you really should be doing FOR them?
- Bonus tip… Tap into your customer support team for all of this. They know what drives customers nuts. They know what drives themselves nuts. They know where there are too many steps in a process to solve an issue. They’ve developed the workarounds. ask them about these things and make changes wherever you can based on what they suggest. Their engagement will increase instantly. When they see they make a difference in how you run your company based on their input, you’ll have the most engaged team around.
- 2nd Bonus tip… Reach out to those customers who HAVEN’T contacted your support desk. Find out why they haven’t. You might uncover reasons not covered here and not on your radar. These are the golden nuggets.