Tag: customer service

Vague Requests From ‘Customers’

I often receive requests
from customers
that don’t reference me
or my books (products)
by name.

I suspect
these are a form of spam,
perhaps a way
of verifying the emails
they used
are correct
before they sell their lists.

If the request is easy
to fulfill,
I fulfill it.

The worst that could happen is
I get added to spam lists.
I already receive
a ton of spam.

The best that could happen is
I make a reader (customer)
super happy.

If the request is difficult,
I’ll fulfill it
if I believe I’ll receive
that request again.
I’ll then save that response
to copy and paste later.

If I doubt I’ll receive
that request again,
I ignore it.

Determine
how you’ll deal
with vague customer requests.

Follow Up

It takes me,
on average,
3 follow up communications
now
to see action
on anything.

I’m usually promised
action
on the first contact
and
the second
and the third.

Then on the fourth contact,
I point out,
yet again,
that nothing has been done.

I tell them
I’ll wait
until I receive confirmation
it has been done.

And they usually don’t
fight that
(as they do
on the first three contacts)
because they now know
I’ll come back.

Follow up.
Don’t assume
action has been taken.
And factor that follow up
in your timelines.

You Don’t Know Who The Person Truly Is

I visited the Universal booth
at the CES.

I tried to make conversation
with the people staffing it.

All I got was blank stares
and silence.

The person waiting behind me,
upon seeing that interaction,
turned around
and left.

The Universal employees
didn’t know who I was.
Not truly.
Sure I had a name
on my badge
but that was only one of the names
I operate under.
I could have been
someone
extremely influential.

They certainly didn’t know
who the person behind me was.

And that’s the challenge…
we don’t truly know
who people are
or what power or influence
they might have.

So be polite to everyone.

Be Approachable

The formatting on a buddy’s book
went terribly wrong.

One of the earliest readers
contacted her immediately.

My buddy corrected the problem
so quickly
most of her other readers
didn’t realize
there had been a problem.

Another writer told her
she was ‘lucky.’
That writer had the same problem
and she didn’t find out about it
until she had received a bunch
of 1 star reviews
and investigated.

Luck is always a factor
but it wasn’t purely luck.

My buddy is approachable.
Readers feel comfortable
coming to her
with issues.

The ‘unlucky’ writer
has a reputation
for yelling at readers.
Very few people
approach her
about anything.

Be approachable.
Or ensure SOMEONE high profile
is approachable
in your business.

That will help you
retain customers.

Pause To Enjoy The Busy Season

This time of year,
between US Thanksgiving
and New Years,
is often when retail businesses
and some other businesses
make most of their sales.

If we’re a business builder
involved in these types
of businesses,
we’re likely extremely busy
right now.

And, hopefully, our stores
are busy also.

Try to take a couple minutes
every day
to stand back and revel
in the increased traffic.

Savor the boost in sales.

Enjoy the flood of customers
looking for gifts
and other holiday items.

Note the excitement,
the activity,
the controlled chaos.

It will help
maintain your passion
for your business
during the slower times
of the year.

Customer History

A loved one
has been battling
a huge internet provider
for well over a month.

Every time
he calls their customer service
they have NO record
of his previous calls.

This is a company
that likely tracks
everything we do
on the internet,
selling that information
to other companies.

The lack of tracking
re: customer service
is deliberate.
It is irritating.
And it likely loses them customers.

But this company is one
of the biggest in the country
so they don’t care.

We can’t be as uncaring.
Our businesses are smaller.
We’re trying to build our customer bases.
We need positive customer experiences
and the positive word of mouth
that accompanies that.

Track customer service experiences.
Keep a thorough customer file.

Ensure your customers
feel respected.

For Every Customer Contacting You…

I send my beloved Mom
a poinsettia
every November,
the start of
her holiday season.

Every October,
I have to email
the florist
to ask them if they are selling
poinsettias
that year
as there aren’t any yet listed
on their site.

They say, ‘Yes.’
I buy a random florist bundle
and ask them
to change the order
to a poinsettia.

Every year.

Which is fine
for me
because I know the florist has sold poinsettias
in the past.

But what about new customers,
customers who don’t know
they sell poinsettias?

What about customers
who don’t want to take on
the extra work
of contacting the florist?

I suspect THEY
either
don’t order the poinsettias
or
they contact another florist,
a florist who has poinsettias
displayed on their site.

And there ARE other customers
like me wanting poinsettias.

Because for every customer
contacting a business
about something,
there are dozens or hundreds
of customers
with the same issue.

If one customer contacts you
about an issue,
consider fixing that issue
for everyone.

Impossible To Please People

During a recent cruise,
a loved one and I
were seated
within hearing distance
of a table
of absolutely awful people.

They hated everything
and everyone,
complained about
the service, food, dining room temperature
and everything else.

I knew
that first night,
they wouldn’t pay the expected tips
because they would NEVER
be happy
with the experience.

But the waitstaff, officers, chefs
tried to do the impossible.
They doted on them.
They cooked them
special meals.
This table of terribles
sucked up the service
the rest of us
would have been happy to experience.

And then,
on the last night,
they didn’t appear.
I overheard
one of the waitstaff say
this terrible table
reduced their tips
to nothing.

There are some people
you will NEVER please.

Stop trying to please them.

That effort is sucking up
the energy
you could use
to make happy customers happier.

Focus on the people
you CAN please.

Violent Pushback Is Successful

One of the things
we’ve learned
from the pandemic thus far
is…
loud and violent pushback
results in success.

Governments know
thousands,
likely millions,
of people
will die
because they dropped
COVID precautions.

Yet they dropped those precautions
anyway
because they were tired of dealing with
the loud and violent
minority
who seem to want
everyone around them
to die.

What this means is…
this tactic
of being loud and violent
will be used again.

Because it works.

It will be used against us,
business builders.
It will be used
against our partners.
It will be used
against our prospects/customers.

Expect your customer service team
to be verbally and perhaps physically
abused
in the future.

Decide NOW
how you will deal with that.

Put a plan in place.

Educating Your Community

I update my readers (customers)
regularly
on where I am
with each book,
what I am working on,
the process,
my schedule.

I find doing this
reassures them.
They know the book is coming.

They are also
more invested
in the upcoming book.
They were there
for its ‘birth’,
for every step of the way.
And when it releases,
it feels like THEIR baby.
They want it to be good,
to do well.

Rosario Dawson and Abrima Erwiah,
co-founders of
Studio 189,
share

“What we have learned to do
is to take time
to explain
and educate our community
about the process of
making clothing
and what goes behind it.
We have found that
the more we share,
the more our customer
actually understands
and becomes more invested
in the community.”

Consider updating and educating
your customers
on your production processes.