by Tom on January 18, 2009
“Helpdesk Hell” could be the title of a new Michael Moore movie or a cheezy teenslasher pic. Trying to find a callcenter that helps you in ways you want to be helped, with respect and , is hard these days. And it seems that the bigger the company, the smaller the service they offer.
The problem? Those who call are idiots and those who answer are geniuses. Not that they are actually idiots and geniuses, I just want to illustrate why communications between them fails, they’re on different levels with no means to reach each other on some form of common ground. Most of the times there are two conversations going on where no-one is actually talking to each other, combined with the added result of more frustration and ‘helpdesk’-anger.
· You probably once had some though days at work? Remember how that felt when you talk to a person. Whatever the content of the problem may be, you’re still two persons talking to each other. ‘Treat every human being like you want to be treated’ seems appropriate, even seems like this should be glued onto helpdesk walls.
· It’s not because someone calls with a lame question that he’s an idiot. Try to understand that not everyone knows everything about whatever it is you’re trying to help them with. I know college professors that can’t tell what the basic ingredients of bread are. If I thought them to be stupid, I wouldn’t have kissed their ass that much.
· Start from the belief that someone has a sincere question he can’t solve and that someone really wants to help. We judge ourself on our intentions and others on results, while it should go the other way around.
· How would you pick up the phone, dial a helpdesk and start talking if you were convinced they would treat you with respect and solve your problem? Seems like a different phonecall right?
It’s easy to moan about bad customer service, but how would you react when you get the same (stupid) question over and over again? And would you like some smart-ass technician laughing at you when you have a geniune problem? Finding some common ground… seems like something impossible.
by Tom on January 15, 2009
I’m trying something new here, so bare with me on this one. A series of blogposts about networking and how you can use it to build a better customer relationship. Hope you like them.
It’s probably a bad habit I learned from my Medieval history professor, but I believe everything starts with defining what it is. We (fear) can never understand what we don’t know. The goal is to clearly state what you want to do and how you’re going to try to achieve it. It’s your networking roadmap. Especially when you’re stressed for time, looking at the roadmap is a huge timesaver.
Ask yourself some really basic questions:
· Why do I need to network? Because you have to should actually be reason enough.
· What do I hope to achieve? Generate more business, get more new clients, improve relationship with current clients,…
· What keeps me from doing it? You’re shy, don’t have the time, can’t find the right tools, don’t know how,…
It’s an easy mistake to think networking is all about business and in a way it is, otherwise we wouldn’t waste our time doing it. But the idea of networking is getting help and helping eachother in any way possible. Don’t network for the wrong reasons and be in it for the long run.
Remember that you don’t have to have a fixed set of rules. Every relationship is different, but defining what you want from it keeps you on course. Do you want information, feedback, do you want to learn or do you want to know how to reel someone in. Take a few seconds before you ‘enter a room’ to think about what you want out of this networking opportunity and how it’ll take you one step closer towards your goals.
Connect
by Tom on January 14, 2009
We’re seeing today that one of the most important things you can lose is your customer’s trust. You don’t have to be a management guru to know that right now we’re facing a trust crisis. As a result even companies with decent products, who always communicated openly and transparant with their customers feel them becoming more and more skeptic.
It takes a lot of time to earn trust, but you can lose it in a split second.
As a result, every company that’s looking for a quick fix faces certain punishement. With a bit of luck, they’ll manage to stay on top for a few more months thinking all is well, but in the end, they didn’t answer to the question at hand and that’s how to rebuild trust.
How are you rebuilding trust?
· It’s why small mistakes are forgiven. Ever heard about that road of success and how it’s paved with failure? It’s because people accept that failure as a part of growing as a company.
· It’s your competitive edge. Trust 101. If I trust you, I’ll do business with you. If I don’t, I’ll go somewhere else where I at least think there’s a fair chance of being treated with respect so trust can be earned.
· It’s the basis for any good relationship. Whether in business or in life, trust means you believe another person will do everything in his power not to fail you. He might, but not by choice.
That’s the most important thing. Not by choice. People don’t mind other people failing them, as long as it serves a purpose and as long as it’s done with the best intentions. And it’s difficult to define what has purpose and what hasn’t. Just like every customer is different, so are their ideas about how you can fail them and whether or not they trust you.
Rebuilding trust means you have to work even harder, more and the results won’t be as spectacular as they once were. Be prepared for even more failure, disappointement and stress. (There’s a happy ending, no worries)
· Talk. Most customers are adults who know the value of a good conversation. Try to really listen to them and try not to go in defence. It’s important to admit mistakes, even if you’re not completely responsible for them. Understand that in the customer’s perception, you’re the reason he left. Not someone else. He projected all his anger towards you.
· Underpromise and overdeliver. If you get the chance of rebuilding a lost relationship. Start overdelivering!
· Really build a relationship. The most basic relationship between customer and company is one of ‘need’. The customer needs a product and the company needs to sell to earn money. Though there’s nothing wrong with such a relationship, the customer’s not having a very good reason to stay when something goes wrong does he? He might stay of the relationship is more profound. I’m working on a new series of blogposts about networking and building relationships… every Thursday it’s Networking Thursday.
Feel free to share every possible tip you got… let’s make Thursday a enjoyable, relationshipbuilding day!
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by Tom on January 9, 2009
You don’t have to be ‘on top of things’ to know that we’re going through a difficult period. Confidence it almost at an all time low and customer satisfaction seems something from the past. A lot of companies are thankfull for the customers they have, that keep doing business with them and basically help them get through some tough times.
These are the companies that have spend considerable resources trying to please their customers. They worked hard on every customer they had and are now picking the fruits of their hard labour. But not every company had the same agenda, had the resources or the time and money to do this.
1. If you really screwed up, acknowledge that you did something wrong. In a time where everyone points to someone else to blame it’s a relieve to see a company take responsibility. If you missed a delivery date, if the product wasn’t good enough or if the service was horrible. Take the hit.
2. Really focus on the customers you have. New customers are important, but they’re harder to find. And don’t forget that you can pick up a lot by word-of-mouth through your current customers.
3. Don’t overwhelm your customer with information. People are having an information overload right now. Right now, people have a lower tolerance for bullshit, if you spam them they’ll go away. Choose your information moments carefully and if you get a ‘no’, don’t be too persistent.
4. Give the right information. One of the reasons we’re in this financial mess is because of wrong information, look where it got them. If the right information means you have to ‘admit’ to certain information, so be it. There’ll be less discussion afterwards.
5. Try not to sell, try to help. Almost every company keeps a tight budget right now, so be honest with them and with yourself. If they don’t really need or can use what you are selling, don’t sell it to them. Sooner or later, during some budgetmeeting, the question will pop up why the hell they bought something and it won’t be a positive discussion.
Thanks so much for reading. Feel free to add anything.
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by Tom on January 6, 2009
‘The customer is always right’. It’s a saying that I very much would like to believe, it’s something that I feel I have to live by, but every bone in my body tells me it’s wrong. As a matter of fact, it can even make things worse.
Ever since shopping needs shifted from ‘necessity’ to ‘pleasure’ companies have tried to pleasure customers so they would come over more often or use their service more frequently. ‘The customer is always right’ is a simple phrase that means ‘whatever customer you have… do everything to keep him’.
But what happens when you keep doing this and create expectations you can never keep towards your customers? When you allow one mishap slip through because you want to keep a customer you’d rather lose, won’t it make things worse? From the customer’s point of view, his expectations were just bumped up a notch because the company allowed it. They made it harder for themselves, nest time he comes over to please him.
And what else is there to do? Do we have to ignore customers with complaints, special demands,…? Or do we simply have to cut our losses at one time? Is it possible to downgrade customer’s expectations? Probably not, if I’m used to a certain level of service, it’s hard to convince me otherwise if it’s not possible anymore. Companies try so hard of building personal relations with their customers that maybe in there lies the problem? If you treat everyone like he’s unique to the company you can get two kinds of customers:
· The world’s best customer. He’s the one you want, who spends a lot of money, thinks you’re the greatest company in the world and hardly ever complains.
· The world’s worst customer. He’s the one that got used to the service too easy. In the past he tried something out to his benefit, it worked and now he’s demanding more and more of you company. He gradually became the world’s worst customer.
So maybe the definition of company/customer satisfaction is the absence of problems and not the presence of happiness?
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