Three Toxic Customer Service Myths
It is important that every professional and business owner be able to distinguish between myth and reality in customer service. Sadly a lot of people run their businesses and departments believing these myths, therefore losing out on the opportunity to grow profitably.
Be aware of these toxic customer service myths, know what the reality is and get a fresh perspective on your thoughts about customer service. Beware of these toxic customer service myths.
#1. The Customer Is Always Right
This is the most common customer service myth, almost everyone from management to frontline staff and even customers know the maxim. In reality, the customers are not always right, and Sometimes certain customers can be downright mean, arrogant, rude & even abusive, but they’re always the customer.
This does not mean the maxim should be blindly interpreted word-for-word, neither does it mean you should become submissive to the whims and fancy of all your customers. Yes, every organization should put in great effort to ensure customers are satisfied, but it should not be done at all cost. You have to draw the line between doable and outrageous customer requests
If you have to admonish your staff because you are trying to please an abusive customer who has flared up in anger and demanded their manager (you), they will become demotivated.
Unless for very valuable business reasons you give in to the requests of such customers, then you owe staff good explanation on why it had to be that way. They should also be trained on how to handle such scenarios in future; else you would end up with a handful of unengaged employees who are using your internet to search for jobs.
#2. Customer Service Is About Handling Complaints
“You have a complaint? Call 800 000 1111”
“Please fill this form. We would love to hear from you”
“Are you happy with our services? Call 800 000 1111 or contact us at …”
Organizations invest millions yearly creating means for their customers to get in touch when they have a complaint. Call centers are upgraded; more call center reps hired and new support channels deployed in order to ensure complaints are handled. It is all well good as long as the organization knows the value of the complaining customer.
The truth is that many organizations fail to capitalize on the valuable insights complaints offer. Most times the complaints come and are handled, but the underlying issues are not resolved. Taking a proactive approach to customer service will guarantee more customer satisfaction, don’t just focus on handling complaints when they arise, go a step further and eliminate the source.
#3. Few Complaints Means Customers Are Satisfied
When you consider the statistics that 96% of dissatisfied customers simply leave without voicing a complaint, and 91% of those customers never come back (1st Financial training services). You begin to realize how toxic this myth really is.
Fewer complaints does not mean that your customers are all happy and satisfied; it might be an indication that the organization has silent and unhappy customers who are simply waiting for competition to come along and woo them away or that they haven’t made it easy for the customers to reach them (Do you make it easy for customer to complain?)
Complaints are healthy for business and foster improvement, If anything you should get worried when customers are not complaining about something. When the phone lines are always active and email inboxes are full, it means more customers are using your product.
Complaining customers are most likely to remain loyal if their complaints are resolved effectively, and will even recommend your brand to more people (Read: The value of the complaining customer).
The customer’s experience is becoming more and more critical in determining business success, therefore it is important that you as a service professional or business owner know what’s a myth and what’s not.
Avoid the mistakes that come with believing in these toxic myths and enjoy business success with satisfied and truly loyal customers
- How AI Is Changing CX – 12 Statistics To Know - May 21, 2024
- The Top 10 Remote Customer Service Job Websites That Hire - March 1, 2024
- Are Your Customers Truly Satisfied? - February 20, 2024
Thanks for a very succinct and insightful article. On Point #1 I agree that abusive customers require special handling and at some point judicious limitations as well. However, I would add that any organization that is capable of provoking a customer to the point of abuse should quickly escalate the issue (and not just the individual) for qualified analysis. In my experience emotions flare when a customer’s resolution is delayed unreasonably and they are trapped in a circular process that goes nowhere. As for Points #2 and #3 – you’re spot on! Relevant and interesting post.
Thank very much for sharing you thoughts Anonymous friend. I absolutely agree , it’s also important that the issue be escalated and critically analyzed to mitigate recurrence. Thanks for calling my attention to that.
Cheers