Good Service Reviews

There’s never been a worse time to fail at customer service.

Where once only a few of your wronged customers’ friends and neighbors might have heard about how you neglected to make that customer happy, now your customer-service blunder can go viral and be discussed by thousands or even millions of consumers. Like the time United Airlines lost a musician’s precious guitar — and he made a YouTube video about it.

Bad customer service is an all-too-common way to lose a customer for good. A recent

Consumer Reports survey found 64 percent of customers walked out of a store in the past year due to bad service.

By the same token, good service can earn you customer loyalty — an American Express Global Customer Service Barometer survey found 70 percent of consumers said they’d spend 13 percent more with businesses that provide great service. Three out of five customers said they’d switch to a new brand or company if it offered superior service.

The barometer report also found small businesses have the edge here — 81 percent of consumers in the survey said they believe small businesses provide better customer service. On the flip side, that means the expectations for small businesses are higher and it may be easier to flub it.

How can you prevent cringe-worthy customer service? Here is a list of must-dos:

• Answer the phone. “Can’t get a human on the phone” was the biggest customer-service flub cited in the Consumer Reports survey. So kill the robots and make sure the phone gets picked up by a real person, within a couple of rings.

• Reduce voicemail steps. Banks, are you listening?

• Teach politeness. Rude salespeople also topped the consumer complaint list.

• Cut the pushiness. The hard-sell is dead, dead, dead. These days the only thing it’s good for is driving people away.

• Eliminate red tape. Many companies get bogged down in elaborate policies and procedures, leaving employees’ hands tied when it comes to fixing problems on the fly. Empower workers to solve problems using your guidelines.

• Surprise and delight. Do something unexpectedly nice for a customer — send a thank-you note or a small extra gift in a mailed package.

• Use social media. Big companies such as Comcast are winning over customers by setting up a Twitter channel where they can report problems and get a rapid response. At the very least, do a scan once a day to make sure nobody is venting to the Twitterverse about what you did wrong.

“Your call is very important to us.” How often have we, as consumers, heard that line repeated over and over again after calling a company’s customer service department and being put on what seems like perpetual hold?

Don’t worry, we’re not alone.

A recent Consumer Reports survey found that 67 percent of respondents had hung up on customer service without having their problem addressed, and 61 percent were “tremendously annoyed” when they couldn’t reach a human on the telephone.

In fact, “Can’t get a human on the phone” is the No. 1 gripe of phone customers, according to a separate survey.

If you think in-store consumers are happier with their customer service experience, think again. The Consumer Reports survey found that 64 percent of respondents said they had left a store in the past year because service was poor.

The bottom line is that many companies are driving a wedge between themselves and their patrons through poor use of technology and inadequate training of staff.

Business consultant Deborah Shane is “astounded” by the lack of priority and vision that the survey results reveal when it comes to businesses not only attracting new customers, but also retaining the ones that they have.

“In today’s marketplace, except for a few standout brands that have done an amazing job at being ‘indispensable,’ competing for consumers’ loyalty doesn’t seem to be a major priority for businesses,” Shane says in a recent Internet post. “Big mistake. Getting new customers, retaining them and then getting more customers from the ones you already have is the perfect business ecosystem – but it is only possible if retention is a priority.”

Shane then uses a recent “run-in” with her cable television provider to illustrate the problem.

“What shocked me was the package I had signed onto was not the package they had me on,” she says. “My service had to get interrupted so that I could call and ask what was up, and the service people I reached on the phone ranged from clueless and disinterested to flat-out rude and inconvenienced.”

On the flip side, Shane shows how a restaurant made amends for a mistake.

“I went to a very popular, usually consistent restaurant that was a service and quality disaster that night,” she says. “They got hit with a big party of people that had their kitchen and servers scrambling. I don’t care. Schedule more people that night to handle it.

“We waited 45 minutes for our main dish, and when it came, it was bad. I called over the manager, who was polite, accommodating and took the dish off the bill. They will see me another time for that.”

Shane believes there are far too few companies that “get it.”

“I am a consumer who pays dearly for my credit card, media, phone and communications services,” she says. “If a company is not treating me like gold, a diva, special, appreciated, respectfully, I am going to dump them immediately. Loyalty and longevity are built on the highest commitment to customer service and retention. Indispensable, standout, unexpected service today is as essential and important as air, water and food are for the survival of human beings.

“Make this a priority, and you and your company have a chance for success and longevity.”

Read more: The Pilot

Now that American consumers are beginning to shake off the recession, small business owners need to be on top of their customer service game. That’s because Americans are placing an even greater premium on quality customer service this year, according to an American Express survey.

The survey found that 70 percent of consumers are willing to spend an average of 13 percent more with companies they believe provide excellent customer service. This figure is up substantially from 2010, when 58 percent of consumers said they would spend an average of 9 percent more with companies that deliver great service.

Despite the greater value Americans are placing on customer service, many businesses don’t seem to be making the grade with consumers, the survey found.

Sixty percent of Americans believe businesses haven’t increased their focus on providing good customer service and, of that group, 26 percent think companies are actually paying less attention to service. The good news is that 81 percent think small businesses do a better job of providing good customer service than large businesses do.

“Getting service right is more than just a nice to do; it’s a must-do,” said Jim Bush, executive vice president, American Express World Service. “American consumers are willing to spend more with companies that provide outstanding service, and they will also tell, on average, twice as many people about bad service than they are about good service. Ultimately, great service can drive sales and customer loyalty.”

The cost of bad service

Americans vote with their wallets when they encounter poor service. The survey found that 78 percent of consumers have abandoned a transaction or not made an intended purchase because of a poor service experience. On the other hand, the promise of better customer service is a draw for shoppers: 59 percent said they would try a new brand or company for a better service experience.

Service can also be the catalyst for both positive and negative word of mouth about your business. Americans say they tell an average of nine people about good experiences, and nearly twice as many (16 people) about poor service experiences.

“There are many who subscribe to the convention that service is a business cost, but our data demonstrates that superior service is an investment that can help drive business growth,” Bush said. “Investing in quality talent, and ensuring they have the skills, training and tools that enable them to empathize and actively listen to customers are central to providing consistently excellent service experiences.”

The survey was conducted in the U.S. and nine other countries exploring attitudes and preferences toward customer service.

Read More: Business News Daily