Yes, I found this strip funny. But then I recalled the last time I had to call one of those customer service numbers, I stopped chuckling – the experience was too similar to be funny.
We all know that the key to customer retention and satisfaction is good customer service, and good customer service requires expertise, resources and finances – something not all companies are ready or willing to pay for. So, many of these companies either outsource their customer service centers to countries in India, or stock their customer service centers with under-qualified and under-trained personnel.
From a business sense, it makes sense. All customers wanted is a challenge to rant, to complain, to be heard – doesn’t necessarily mean you have to do anything about it, right? Just let them rant so that they can ‘have a nice day.’ You end up saving a big chunk of your money. Now you can afford to pay for upper management’s employee benefits and shareholders get a penny more on their investments.
And who gets the short end of the stick? Customers? Well, in a way yes, because we are the ones who have to pay the long-distances charges only to get someone who automatically thinks that we’re nothing but complaints, or worse, has no clue what’s happening. But it’s easy for us, too. All it took was just one phone call and we know this company doesn’t deserve our business.
At the end, it’s the company who suffers the most. Competing solely on price no longer works in the business world. It’s now all about perceived value of your product/service – what customers think they’ll get for their money. Your product is so similar to those of your competitors, so that leaves the final battlefield – customer service. The sure-win strategy, make your customers feel you’re willing to spend the extra time, effort and penny on their problems.
Spend money on proper hiring and training, build in-house call centers. Keep your customer service people in the same building as the administrators. Keep them informed and give then continual in-house training from those whose work your business depends on (ie. administrators, upper management, etc).
Your customer service staffs are the ones interacting with your customers on a daily basis. They represent your company – culture, beliefs, focus, etc. You spent your money on innovative state-of-the-art product development, you certainly wouldn’t want customers to see your company as being ‘run by a bunch of clueless cost-saving idiots’ now, right?
