Nature’s own incentive scheme…
We’ve all been there…
You call a big company about some issue. You jump through the usual bullshit hoops.
Eventually you get connected to NPC #47893 and it reads it’s little script at you. Follows it’s program and begins dispensing “customer service” at you.
Your problem is getting slightly closer to being solved
And then… silence.
You got disconnected.
You call back. You wait on hold. You jump through the automated hoops.
And you get connected to… a totally different NPC!
You try to explain that this other person was helping you. You tell them what he already did and already told you.
But this new NPC has his script to follow, and so you’re doing it all again, whether you like it or not.
Often, he even tells you that what the first person (who probably hung up on you on purpose) told you wasn’t even true.
You, the customer, are made to suffer?
Why?
Lack of consequences. Lack of skin in the game.
Sure, there’s a slim chance someone will listen to that call. Find out what happened. Give the NPCs a talking to or punishment.
But probably not. And even if they do, it’s just a numbers game for them.
Not the case in small business though. And this is a good thing.
When you’re running things yourself, you’re going to do it right. It’s your business. You personally care about it.
But what about employees? How can you get them to think like owners?
Put their skin in the game.
If I have 1 or 2 customer service agents, and one of them treats a customer poorly, or does something incorrectly or in a half-assed way, who’s going to hear about it?
THEM!
The customer replies to the email and says “Hey, what you told me didn’t work, what next?”
In other words, there’s no incentive for them to take shortcuts. There’s EVERY incentive to make sure thing are done right the first time.
That way they won’t have to deal with it again!
Simple, effective, and low maintenance!
Exactly the way customer service should be.
By preventing problems before they happen, we keep customer service small. By keeping it small, we keep it simple.
And we keep people’s skin in the game where it belongs.
— Mark
P.S. The 80/20 Service Guide is still on sale… for now.
Get it here: https://gumroad.com/l/rkbth/VIP
