It’s WHERE you spend your time that matters… I know… yesterday I said it shouldn’t take more than an hour a day. And I mean that. But before you get to that point, you need to do some work. You need to see exactly what your customer are contacting you about. What problems do they have? What can they not do for themselves? And you need to figure out how to prevent as many of Read more…
An hour a day is pushing it… Customer service should NOT be a full time job. Not if you do it right. And this is coming from someone who has spent years with customer service as my full time job. Fact is, most customer issues are easily solved. They’re even more easily prevented. And very few are truly URGENT. The 80/20 system revolves around prevention. This takes work up front (more on that tomorrow), but Read more…
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 Read more…
I’ve saved the worst for last here, people… Today’s email is part 5 of the 80/20 Service series Things Problem Customers Say. Find the whole series here. Sell a product or service long enough and you’ll get these people. Run a subscription model and you’ll learn to despise them like I do. Victim culture is out of control in our society right now. Don’t think it doesn’t extend to your business. These people are looking Read more…
“What good is a phone call if you are unable to speak?” Today’s email is part 4 of the 80/20 Service series Things Problem Customers Say. Find the whole series here. Some companies seem to take a perverse pleasure in making people call them on the phone. Why else would the phone ring half a time and then play a loud beeping noise right in someone’s ear? Why else would the record voice include the Read more…
“Computers are hard!” Today’s email is part 3 of the 80/20 Service series Things Problem Customers Say. Find the whole series here. As my readers should already know, the best approach to customer service is to prevent problem before they happen. To keep things simple. It’s in the spirit of this principle that I introduce today’s problem customer… The person who wants someone to walk them through every step of even the simplest process. “I Read more…
“It’s not too expensive. You’re too cheap.” Today’s email is part 2 of the 80/20 Service series Things Problem Customers Say. Find the whole series here. Unfortunately, we all have budgets. Some are higher than others, to be sure, but even the richest billionaire has some things they can’t afford to buy or do. And we all have our own idea of value. You might buy a book for $5 that you wouldn’t pay $20 Read more…
These people WILL destroy your business if you let them… This is something I get asked about a lot. “How can I spot problem customers before they cause problems?” And the answer is… there is no foolproof answer. Bad customers come in every shape and size, and you’ll never be able to repel all of them. That said, there are a lot of similarities. This week, I’m going to focus on the top 5 tip Read more…
And don’t tolerate customers who do either… Anyone who has done any customer service knows what I’m talking about here. Charge money for literally anything, and SOMEONE will come out of the woodwork calling you a scammer. This investment newsletter didn’t triple my portfolio in 2 weeks. Scam! This book contains information I could have compiled from hundreds of independent sources online for free. Scam! I drank this bottle of water but now I’m thirsty Read more…
Nobody’s taking your hints… Wouldn’t it be nice if customers could figure things out on their own? How do I log in? Oh yes, I click the page that says “log in.” Simple example, of course, but much of customer service consists of answering “easy” or “stupid” questions. Things you already told them. Things they should already know. And yet, they ask. Why? One of two reasons, really. They’re stupid It wasn’t as clear as Read more…