Work From Home? How Do You Treat Your Customers?
This morning I had 2 very unsatisfactory interactions with 2 different companies. It all started last week when I ordered a product online from a US website (I’m in Canada). At the order site there was only one choice for shipping, and there was no indication of the shipping method. So I placed my order, and used my PO Box shipping address.
In the confirmation email, I received a UPS tracking link. Over the years I’ve had many very bad experiences with UPS, and usually avoid using them as a shipper if I can. However, its been a while since I used UPS, so I was hopeful.
Fast forward to yesterday. I received a voice mail from the local Purolator office, informing me that they had a UPS package for me and needed a civic address rather than a PO Box. They also supplied the UPS contact number, and did not leave their own contact number.
So I called UPS. After listening to the usual voice mail prompts, it was evident that none of the options on the menu were appropriate to my situation. On most voice mail systems, pressing 0 will connect you to an agent, so that’s what I did. UPS does not have it set up that way – pressing 0 simply repeated the voice menu again. Nor was there any indication that simply waiting would connect me to someone. So I tried some of the menu options. None of the ones I tried provided any way to connect to a live person. They all wanted me to say a tracking number or receipt number, neither of which I had.
Having no way to speak with a live UPS agent, I then looked up Purolator customer service and called them. There I was able to get through to a real person who spoke broken English. As soon as this person heard that I was calling about a UPS package, he went into his obviously scripted response “You have to call UPS”, even though I tried to explain that I had already done that and could not get through to a real person. After 5 minutes of pleading with this person, it finally dawned on him that he had to LISTEN to what I was saying. And so he somehow managed to connect me with a UPS agent. Of course, this agent was in the wrong department, so he connected me somewhere else. At this final connection I finally was able to change the shipping address for the package. Problem solved? Let’s hope so…
Just look at all the hoops I had to go through for such a simple change! You can bet that 3 so-called ‘businesses’ have lost my business forever:
1) The original company that I ordered from, for not providing me with shipping options so I could avoid UPS.
2) UPS (again) for not providing any way to connect me to someone who could solve my problem.
3) Purolator for having a very poorly trained customer service agent who did not seem to care about my problem.
What can we as business owners learn from experiences such as this? We all know, or should realize, that customers are the lifeblood of our business, and how we treat those customers will ultimately determine whether they will come back for more. Here are some of the things that my experience can teach us:
- Whether you are delivering physical or digital products, always give more than one option for product delivery, and make those choices obvious on the order page.
- When you provide contact information, always provide a default way of contacting you in case none of the other options work for the customer.
- If you employ people to take customer service calls or answer help desk tickets, train them to listen to (or read) the customer’s problem and not just provide scripted responses to the problem. There is nothing more frustrating than trying to explain a problem and having the agent interrupt you partway through with a scripted solution!
- If you contract others to deliver services for you, try out those services as if you were a customer. You might get some surprises! Remember, all of your suppliers represent you in your customer’s eyes. Your customer’s perception of you is only as good as their perception of the manner in which they receive the product or service they ordered.
In short, make it easy as pie for your customers to deal with you, and contract with suppliers who have the same philosophy. Customer service begins even before the customer walks through the door. Treat your customers right and they will come back for more. Treat them as nuisances and you will never see them again!
Bill Brine
Home Small Business Coach and Mentor
Online Marketing Systems
Phone: 902-667-0511
Skype: billbrine
Office Hours: 9am-6PM EST, M-F