Why is great customer service so scarce?
"That’s a day and a half of my life I won’t get back!” - a dissatisfied customer
How many times have you heard yourself repeating this phrase this year? I predict that in the last 6 months most of us have said it at least once or twice. That’s because good customer service is becoming such a scarce resource. Businesses are not delivering on their promises. They’re making it difficult for us to spend money with them, hard to access the products or services we want, and treating us with disrespect.
Sally’s taking us to the zoo tomorrow (Oops, no she’s not!)
Earlier this year I booked a behind-the-scenes visit at a zoo. It was a special gift for my nephew’s son and we were really looking forward to it. We arrived on the day only to be told our visit would not be going ahead. We were reassured that another date would soon be rearranged, but that they don’t offer the experience during school holidays. Three months later, we’ve heard nothing from the zoo about rebooking our visit. Their silence is deafening and infuriating.
That visit took careful planning and coordination to bring everyone together, not to mention the cost of the tickets, for which I haven’t been offered a refund. After several unanswered emails I’m about to write to the top and use the classic dissatisfied customer sentence I started this blog with.
Why do some businesses make it hard for customers to spend money?
I would love to have had an amazing behind-the-scenes experience at the zoo. I would have told all my friends with children how brilliant it was. I know they would have jumped at the recommendation for such a unique gift and probably booked the experience for themselves. Instead I’m telling them to avoid it at all costs.
Why is the zoo making it difficult for me to become a customer? Do they not want me to spend extra money on food, drink and souvenirs, or tell my friends what a great day we had? Have they grown too big to care? It’s just not good enough!
Poor experiences = complaints
No-one enjoys writing a letter of complaint or posting a negative review, but by the time their experience has reached this stage the customer often feels they have no choice. It’s the only way to be heard. Like my communication with the zoo, I am so frustrated I feel compelled to escalate it to the highest level - because nobody is listening to me! All that needed to happen was for someone to take ownership of the situation, to reschedule our visit and bring the issue to a satisfactory close. Ignoring it for months has exacerbated the situation.
Is customer service getting worse?
I think so. The problem is we ALL have tales of poor service and most of them could have been resolved at source quickly and easily. Just one bad experience is too many.
It feels like some businesses couldn’t care less whether their customers are happy or not. Do these businesses expect there to be a never-ending flow of new customers coming through their door? At some point customers’ feet will do the talking.
You have to want to provide a good product or service customers are happy with. If you don’t, you might as well close right now. Poor service and not caring about your customers is not good enough.
Controlling costs or custom?
As a business leader, if you spend most of your time controlling costs and worrying about profit in your business, this is a sure sign that your focus is not on the real top line of your accounts. The top priority of every business has to be customer satisfaction. Without customers you won’t have any costs to control!
When service is great, business is regular and profitable. If you welcome your customers with open arms and demonstrate how much you value them and their business, the more likely they are to return - again and again. Your bottom line will then look after itself.
Looking after your customers is a no-brainer
At Zest for Life our vision is:
For the UK and beyond to be renowned for exceptional service, where the team delivering the service are inspired and have a feel-good factor about the great work they do.
We support organisations to do this by building customer relationships so people can’t wait to come back with their friends and family, who then also want to return. When you start doing this, we guarantee the glowing 5-star customer reviews will follow. And with great service so scarce right now, delivering an exceptional experience can really make you stand out from the crowd for the right reasons.
When will you start caring, supporting and helping customers so they don’t waste precious time out of their life? If the time is now,come along to a free taster session or book a tell me more chat with Sally here.