Sending Mixed Signals Can Send Your Clients Away
I call it the "wave and roll." You walk up to an intersection. You look both ways before you cross when you make eye contact with an oncoming vehicle. You meet the gaze of the driver. Politely and legally, he invites you to cross first. As you enter the crosswalk, you notice that he continues rolling toward the intersection with no reduction in speed. How safe do you feel? Your clients-remember those who you are supposed to protect-have a similar experience when you send them incongruous messages. Step into their shoes for a minute. Do you remember the last time you were frustrated with the service you received? Did they promise the moon and then delivery nothing but dust? Recently, I ordered a new pair of prescription eyeglasses. The optician told me, "We will do anything to earn your business." At this point you might be saying to me, let the buyer beware. And if you did, you would have a good point. I was told the glasses would be ready in a week. They were not. I was told another week, but still no glasses. "We will do anything to earn your business," was replaced with, "It is not our fault." Since they used outside vendors to perform the work, my optician asserted he had no control over the lab they outsourced the job to. Rather than addressing the problem-and the broken promise-the optician offered me a new target for my ill will and disappointment, the lab. Plausible deniability may work in presidential politics, but regardless of who was at "fault," I was out a pair of glasses and the words on the computer screen were getting mighty blurry. A client was unprotected. Coincidently, an acquaintance in another industry had recently shared his reason for outsourcing what was once an internal function. "So that my customers will not get mad at me." A sentiment apparently shared by my optician. Shouldn't the emphasis be on keeping the client from getting mad as opposed to getting mad at you? Eventually, I got my glasses. But, my optician lost a repeat customer. And now I am sharing their poor example of customer service with you to illustrate how you can better keep your clients happy, well served, and protected. To ensure you do not send mixed signals, I will leave you with three considerations. First, align yourself with your clients. Regard them as partners. Your job is to meet your clients' needs, to protect them. If not, then what purpose does your business serve? Look for opportunities to advocate for your clients interests, especially those for which they contracted you. Recall that my optician claimed they had no control; that the delay in getting my glasses was not their fault. Specialization-as in one business sells the glasses, another makes them-fosters interdependence. I imagine most of you rely on outsourcing relationships to serve your clients. Outsourcing does not abdicate you of your responsibility to your clients, certainly not in their eyes. My optician may have had a lack of control, but in a business relationship no one is without influence. How likely do you think it is that some accommodation could have been made between parties to diminish the client's pain? This is where you look for opportunities to demonstrate your care for the customer. Get creative! Find solutions and make them happen! Let the client know what you are doing on their behalf. Even if you are unsuccessful, or just moderately successful, your efforts will make a difference. It might not win the client over, but it will definitely improve your odds. Second, welcome all feedback, especially complaints. A complaining client is a wonderful thing to behold. Complaining to you means the client still maintains a vested interest in seeing the relationship improve. A complaint represents an opportunity to repair the service. How do you react to complaints? What goes on emotionally for you when a customer complains? Do you empathize with their pain, marshaling your own resourcefulness to resolve the problem? Or, do you feel embarrassed or threatened, exposed or unsafe? If you regard complaints as threats, you position yourself against your client, rather than with them. Advocating for your client requires you to be open and vulnerable with them. There's no room for self-protection if you want to keep your clients happy. Third and finally, align your policies and processes to support your clients. Question the purpose and impact of the rules you work by. Do they support customers or do they provide for your convenience, profit, or protection. Convenience, profit, and protection are important. But if those purposes are cross with your clients needs, reevaluation is in order. Align with your customers. Do what you say, say what you do. Be grateful and thankful for client complaints. Make sure your policies support your clients. When a service breakdown does occur, you will feel less like you are about to be hit by a car. And more importantly, so will your client. REPUBLISHING PERMISSION: You are welcome to download or reprint this article so long as you include my byline and copyright at the end of each piece with a live weblink. Please forward publication specifics to http://www.JeffSimon-Consulting.com/ The attribution should read: "By Jeff Simon of Jeff Simon Consulting, The Client Retention Specialists. Are you having trouble keeping your best clients? Please visit Jeff's website at http://www.JeffSimon-Consulting.com/ for additional articles and resources for keeping your best clients."
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Some time ago a major UK food retailer decided to branch out into non-foods. Well, they all do it now, but in those days it was unheard of. Alongside the fruit and vegetables, meat and tinned foods they sold refrigerators that they had purchased at very low cost from an eastern European company (these were the days when East and West Europe rarely traded with each other).
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What the retailer didn't consider was that fridges ? unlike tins of beans ? occasionally need spare parts. They sometimes breakdown or are damaged. What the retailer forgot was AFTER SALES.
It was entirely understandable the customers would make the assumption that the retailer would have this in hand. Trouble is, they didn't. The parts - and the engineers who knew who to fit them - were in Poland. So, to many customers, what seemed like a bargain turned out to be a problem. This retailer is now very successfully selling non-food goods alongside food products and I am sure they did the decent thing by refunding their disgruntled fridge customers of many years ago.
Not all companies are so good with their customers. Some will sell products as a one-off transaction and will not be interested in what happens from the moment the product has been sold. "We don't do repairs and we don't sell spare parts. Contact the manufacturer." This is not a lot of good if you live in the U.S. and the manufacturer is in Shanghai, for example.
Of course, some products and are not designed to be repaired or refurbished. The manufacturers simply expect them to be thrown away at the end of their life, even if that life is relatively short. An example is the microwave oven. Who fixes yours? Nobody, I suspect. They are usually repairable, but rarely is one ever repaired. No, they just end up in landfill alongside many other goods that are also thrown away rather than "made good". No wonder many countries around the world are introducing legislation to limit the extent to which such goods can be tossed away so casually.
So, next time you are considering a purchase, especially the purchase of an expensive product or a mechanical product, consider the following tests:
1. Is it built to last?
2. Does it come with a guarantee?
3. Is there evidence of the product's durability?
4. Is it designed to be repaired?
5. Are spare parts available?
Remember also, that repair is better for the environment than replacement. Of course, old products do need to be replaced eventually, but why replace prematurely just because you have purchased a product that failed the tests above?
One group of products that pass these tests with flying colors is Insect-o-Cutor Fly Killers. Have a look at www.flykiller.net and you will see them there.
Let's put them to the above tests:
1. Insectocutor Fly Killers are made of steel. Their solid construction is one of their best selling points.
2. They come with a 5-year guarantee
3. Go to any restaurant or commercial kitchen and you will see Insectocutor fly killers that have been there for 20 years ? and still going strong!
4. Insectocutor fly killers are constructed in a logical way making repairs straightforward. Insectocutor also provides support for repairs.
5. Insect-o-Cutor sells a range of spare parts for all of their fly killers ? even for models that are no longer in production. And their best UK distributor, Arkay Hygiene ? at www.eeeee.co.uk - is always happy to provide these spares as well as replacement u.v. lamps and glueboards
After sales is just as much about the customer as it is about the product. Making a sale is not the end, it is just the beginning. Insect-o-cutor is a good example of a company that demonstrates its concern for it customers through the long-term support offered for its range of products. Just think on that one when you are next down the municipal dump with your broken down microwave!
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