Customer Service - Have We Created a Monster?
As a Christmas gift to my subscribers, I put together a special offer yesterday. 3 minutes after hitting the SEND button, the first order came in. And in 7 minutes, I received the first complaint!
It was impatient, irritable, and insulting. It seems the buyer had a problem with the download link.
I checked it out. Fixed the link. And refunded the customer.
Hold on... I can hear the crowd howling:
"But how could you do that? There WAS a problem with your link!"
Yes. And does that give a 'keyboard cowboy' reasonable excuse to vent his or her angst on me? I think NOT.
Mistakes happen. To you. To me. To everyone.
Yes, even to my angry customer.
All it takes to resolve most of them is a simple request for assistance.
But all this clapping and cheering about the customer ALWAYS being right is creating a nasty backlash - and it is NOT pleasant at all. Customers believe they can get away with anything!
Well, I don't buy that. Just as customers expect to be treated with care and respect, I believe a sincere vendor deserves no less.
Of course, this attitude assumes 2 important things:
* the seller is genuinely concerned about his/her clients and customers - I am
* the product or service being offered is of good quality - mine are
If these basics are met, then respect and consideration are mandatory in all exchanges - on BOTH sides.
So, does firing a client really work? I don't know. But any day, I'll take a polite, pleasant client over a short-tempered or impatient one. It's why I chose to ignore this email which came in a few hours later from this buyer:
"I actually wanted the product, i am just getting a little frustrated, since this has happened to me several times in the last 2 weeks. i apologize, i did not mean to be so brash."
This isn't the first time a client has written back with a note of apology - and I'm sure it won't be the last. I have refunded $9.95 purchases, as well as $997 ones, for similar reasons.
Which is why I will stick to this policy of not accepting bad behavior from my clients. That's right - My customers are NOT always right!
What do you think? Share your thoughts - click here
Posted by blogger at December 24, 2005 05:31 PM
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