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December 24, 2005

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 | TrackBack
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Full Disclosure: Most links on this blog are 'affiliate links' that will earn me a referral commission if you click on them and buy the items I endorse. However, that is NOT the reason I include them. I only recommend products and services I believe are of high quality, value and will benefit you in some way.

Who publishes this blog?

Dr.Mani photo Dr.Mani is a pediatric heart surgeon, and an experienced infopreneur who creates and sells infoproducts to help fund life-saving treatment for children from under-privileged families who have congenital heart defects. To learn more about Dr.Mani's business and non-profit work, you can visit his website at www.DrMani.com

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