Last week’s customer service article generated a substantial amount of discussion, therefore, this week, I want highlight a few examples of bad customer experiences and how you can fix them.

For clarity, according to a Zendesk blog Trends report, bad customer service occurs when a business fails to meet customer expectations in terms of service quality, response time and overall customer experience. Factors such as inefficient support and an inability to understand your customer needs contribute to a negative effect on customer service.

Here are a few examples of bad customer experience and how to fix them:

1. Failure to measure your customer service – According to Peter Drucker, Management guru, “If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it”! As we continue to see a growth in online stores, here’s a scenario to consider:

Scenario: Cindy has purchased a perfume as well as accessories from a small business on Instagram. The owner of said business on Instagram, believes that she sells popular brands, and that the quality of the accessories speak for themselves. However, she has never implemented any formal methods of measuring customer service or collecting feedback from customers.

Consider this: It may be true that many customers who order from online stores or Instagram shops don’t have significant issues. However, if there is no system in place to provide feedback, as a business owner, you are unable to determine whether customers are happy with their entire purchasing experience, he standard of service received and even your delivery service if you offer one.

Without an assessment of your service, you lose important information that can potentially develop your brand/business. How would you know about your customer problems? Don’t be oblivious to the problems existing as well as potential customers may have; without the knowledge you are powerless.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to measure regularly:

Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT) – this tell you how satisfied customers are with your business. To solicit this information, you directly ask customers to rate their satisfaction with your products and services. The higher the CSAT score, the better the customer satisfaction.

Collect feedback in real time after a purchase to know what’s working and what’s not working.

Average Response Time (ART): this measures the time between the customer initiating the chat/enquiry and the company representative responding to it. You will notice on Facebook for example, it tells you how long a business takes to typically respond to a message. This information should be considered when carrying out performance evaluation of your customer service agents/staff as it speaks to customer complaints. When it comes to response time, well this where I say ‘A.I. has entered the chat’! Just as you scale a business, you can scale your support, so bots can handle basic queries 24/7 or when a rep is not available Number of touchpoints – Sometimes we totally underestimate this. This measures the total number of return interactions made by a customer to get the right solution for the same issue.

2. No customer service etiquette

Scenario: Justin goes into a store in Kingstown. As he approaches the store clerk, he is met with a dismissive or disinterested attitude. There is hardly or no eye contact and when he asks a question, the response is given with an impatient tone. The rep. seems more interested in chatting with a co-worker as opposed to listening to the customer and giving helpful information. Justin feels disregarded and as such has an unfavourable impression of the business and its customer service.

The above experience will result in Justin being less inclined to purchase something and has a negative effect on the entire shopping experience. Justin is likely to complain to friends and family about his unpleasant experience which in turn will discourage them from going to said store.

How to fix it

– Firstly, I must say not everyone is suited for a customer service role so no amount of training will do the trick. First ensure you have the right people with the right personality and attitude dealing with customers. Your team or rep. should have the right skills and etiquette for the job.

– Clear communication- I touched on this last week – customer service scripts based on scenarios where your staff must address customers.

– Set the right expectations – Saying ‘yes’ to everything your customer requests do more harm than good. Manage customer expectations by not over-promising. Train your staff to be realistic and say yes to practical demands.

– Continuous training in customer service and etiquette can build a solid team that will improve your brand’s reputation and increase customer loyalty.

Candice Sealey is the Founder & Principal Consultant at Ignite! a Full-service Marketing & PR Consultancy that helps businesses/brands to stand out and communicate the right message to the right people at the right time through Strategy, Marketing, Media services and Design solutions. She is also a freelance content writer, advertising copywriter, voiceover talent, media personality. Follow us on FB & IG @igniteresults Phone:784-432-2223. Email: igniteresults@gmail.com