Knowing When to Cut Your Losses
Thursday, 08. 27. 2009 – Category: T2 Communications
There are customers who are out for blood each time they call in. Every tiny issue is another notch on their belt against your company. Whether it has been two weeks or six months since their last issue, each time is one more reason for them to spread their stories of disappointment further. They aren’t happy with their bill, their service was slow yesterday, or one minor issue happened for the second time this year; you’ve heard all of the reasons why you are not up to par. They complain because you don’t follow up enough, and then because you call too much.
As a customer service representative, it’s never pleasing to hear that customers aren’t happy. After all, we are their advocates! How do we make this up to them? For some customers, it’s time to figure out that no matter what we do, they cannot be pleased. Now what?
The amount of customer service calls, bill credits, and special treatment just to make a customer happy varies for each company before they determine to cut their losses. It is important to weigh the damage this customer could potentially be doing for your business. Especially for small companies, word of mouth can make or break your business. It’s better to lose a customer than to have them continually bad mouth your product. It’s not much different for larger companies, although the right marketing approach can make up for a few bad referrals.
It’s hard to decide that a customer would be better off working with another company because nobody likes to lose business. But one can only sacrifice so much time and money trying to please everyone. Also, when following the rules, processes, and procedures do not allow for a customer to have it their way, we are left to deal with the results: angry customers who spread the word!
If the customer is still doing business with your company because of contractual obligations, but they are continually dissatisfied, it may be more beneficial to comply with their request to be let out of their contract. This way, at least they can say, “They were nice enough to let me out of my contract.” It’s not the best referral, but it’s better than, “Those rotten thieves won’t even let me out of my contract even though they continue to drop the ball.” True or not, I would rather have a customer say that I stuck by my satisfaction guarantee than I stole their money and didn’t deliver.
If the customer has continually expressed their feelings that your company has “screwed them since the beginning”, but doesn’t just leave and work with another company, it may be good business just to ask them how you can resolve their frustrations and assist them in finding a new company for their needs. Finding a new company to work with can be overwhelming to the customer. It requires phone calls, research, and effort. Many customers would just rather be in misery than spend time finding someone else. It sounds crazy, but it’s true.
If we help the customer out by pointing them in the right direction, they can say, “They were nice enough to help me find someone else”, rather than, “They’re terrible, but I don’t know who else to use.”
In the end, we may lose out on business, but we may lose out on the headaches, too.
Katie Petre works for T² Communications, a CornerWorld company.
Tags: customer, customer service, Katie Petre, satisfaction, strategy, troubleshooting