How not to Scare Away Customers this Halloween
Does your business or organization engage in any of these frightening customer service strategies that scare away customers?
Halloween is approaching, and we all know what that means: scary costumes, freaky jack-o’-lanterns, and haunted houses. Our local chamber is even sponsoring a “fright hike,” wherein brave individuals hike through the woods, at night, in our local state park to experience the thrill of being scared. Indeed, this is the chamber’s sixth year sponsoring the successful event, which is more popular – and more frightening – each year.
Now, it’s one thing to fork over some money to frighten the bejeezus out of yourself, but it’s another thing to scare away customers with poor customer service. Whereas frightening yourself costs you a few dollars, scaring away customers costs businesses a lot more: $62 billion dollars per year, according to a Forbes article.
So, in the spirit of Halloween, here’s a list of five poor customer service practices that are certain to scare away customers.
#1: Conveying a curt customer service attitude.
Think about how you would greet and interact with a long-lost friend you haven’t seen in ten years. Now, that’s how your business or organization should greet and interact with each and every customer – each and every time.
#2: Neglecting to timely respond (if at all) to customer inquiries.
A customer who leaves a message with your business or organization deserves a timely response. Simply put, there is absolutely no excuse – including the popular “Sorry, I’ve been crazy busy” – for not returning a customer’s telephone call or replying to a customer’s email.
#3: Failing to follow through with customers.
If you promise a customer that you will call him or her back, then your business or organization needs to fulfill its promise, without exception. Every. Single. Time.
#4: Requiring customers to jump through hoops.
A customer desires a solution, not the runaround. Instead of requiring a customer to expend his or her precious time to call another department, your business or organization should assume ownership of the issue and, accordingly, perform the behind-the-scenes work on behalf of the customer.
#5: Subjecting customers to frustrating phone trees.
A customer who calls your business or organization should always have an easy and readily accessible option to connect with a human as soon as possible. Always.
During your customer service meetings this week, why not use the Halloween season to focus on how not to scare away customers? After all, there are 62 billion reasons to do so.
In the meantime, have a scary-free “customerific” week!
Mark