Customer Care Representation for Your Small Business – Customer Care Representation for Your Small BusinessIn Nigeria, a lot of businesses are closing down due to bad customer services. If your business must succeed and secure high patronage you must give people a good experience that will guarantee high patronage and make for high profit, if not, companies from outside Nigeria and Africa will come and take the money away.

In a recent report I read, the industries with the worst customer service in Nigeria were listed as, banking, telecommunication, and the power sector.

 

While it’s quite easy for you or anyone to agree with this report, in all fairness, virtually every company in Nigeria is guilty of poor customer care representation. Rarely can one point to a particular industry and say with confidence that customers always receive the best form of assistance when need be.

 

Nigerians may not always complain but they will go behind and tell others about their experiences with such companies. This usually doesn’t have a good effect on the company. Who wants to spend their money where they would not be appreciated?

 

Do not forget that your lack of good customer service experience will make it easy for your competitors to push you out of business.

 

For any business that intends to succeed in Nigeria, the choice of making customers happy must be prioritized. Let customer service shape your sales and marketing efforts.

 

No small business can afford to take customer happiness for granted, and the best way to avoid that is to build them right into your sales and marketing strategies. Consistently, excellent customer service gives you a unique selling proposition, repeat business, and most importantly, trust.

 

You have a 60 – 70% chance of getting business from your existing customers compared to only a 5 – 20% chance of selling to new prospects.

 

If you’ve been in business very long, you’ve likely heard it all!

 

You know, the irate customer who is going to sue you over the five-dollar product that they claim is bogus; the one that’s going to “shut your business down” because they conjure up in their minds that you might have breached your privacy policy or the one that takes complete advantage of your money-back guaranty. My favorite has to be the one that calls and screams vulgarities into the phone for apparently no reason.

 

It doesn’t happen often, but if you’re going to be in business, you will run across some nut cases from time to time. Some can be diffused, some can’t. That’s just the way things go in business.

 

It’s not easy to respond correctly to an angry customer – that’s why customer relationship management is such a valuable part of a business. When the worst happens, and your customer service team is faced with a furious complaint, here are some simple techniques you can use without burning yourself an ulcer over them…

1. Don’t take it personal

 

There is one thing that almost all angry customers have in common. They try to attack you on a personal level. Name-calling is not unusual. When you take it personal, you are likely to get into a yelling match with the customer which resolves nothing and only stands to make things worse.

 

First, take a step back from the complaint and make sure you’re able to assess it from an objective point of view. It can be hurtful to hear negative feedback about your business. Make sure you’re able to put yourself in the customer’s shoes before replying or resolving the issue.

 

Always speak to the issue at hand and do not get personal, even if the customer does. Remember that the customer doesn’t know you and is just venting frustration at you as a representative of your company. Gently guide the conversation back to the issue and how you intend to resolve it.

 

Try to diffuse the situation – kill the anger with kindness so to speak. If that doesn’t work, ask them to contact you again once they have calmed down and are willing to speak reasonably. Refuse to speak with a customer in an irate state. You don’t have to put up with abuse ever.

2. Don’t overdo the “Customer Is Always Right” concept

In customer service training you will always hear that the customer is always right. While that is true to some extent, sometimes they are just flat wrong. You should always try to accommodate a customer within reason, but do not allow that concept to go too far.

 

But you must respond. No matter what the issue is, you must respond! If you don’t abide by the mantra that the customer is always right, then at least let the customer know why their judgment was unfair. Offer a way to resolve their issue or to come back in and experience your business again. If the customer is rightly complaining about something, then own the mistake and offer to make things right immediately.

3. Realize it isn’t always your problem

Sometimes people just have a bad day and are looking for someone to take it out on. Everyone has an occasional bad day. Maybe your rude customer had a fight with their spouse, got into a long traffic jam that morning, or had a recent run of bad luck. We’ve all been there, to some degree. Try to empathize and make their day better by being a pleasant, calming voice – it’ll make you feel good, too.

 

If you listen to their ranting and raving, then respond kindly telling them you understand their plight and you want to work with them to come to a resolution, you will often diffuse the anger and uncover the rational human being beneath it.

4. Take action but don’t fall for fear invoking bluffs

Depending on the complaint, you may need to take action to rectify the problem. Don’t just solve one person’s issue — take the learnings and communicate or apply them to your company as a whole.

 

However, in customer service, some business people tend to do anything to avoid the potential harm of a threat even if it means losing money or giving in to irrational demands. When you are threatened, consider the validity of the threat. Do you really think someone is going to pay thousands of dollars in attorney fees to sue you over a low-dollar transaction? Likely not. Again, do what you can to accommodate within reason but don’t give in to unsubstantiated threats.

5. Decide whether or not a customer relationship is worth salvaging

You’ve heard it said that one happy customer tells one person about your business while an unhappy customer will tell 10 or more. Undoubtedly, word of mouth can be the best or the worst exposure for your business. This is the very basis of the “the customer is always right” concept. Of course, it is best to salvage a customer relationship if you can, but again, do so within reason.

 

If you promise a callback, call back! Even if you promised an update that you don’t have yet, call the customer at the scheduled time anyway. The customer will be reassured that you are not trying to dodge them and will appreciate the follow-up.

 

Do you really want to impress your unhappy customers?

 

Follow up with your customer to get more feedback after the issue is resolved. Don’t be afraid to ask for honest feedback! Ask your customers what you can improve. You may be surprised by what you hear!

 

Speaking of asking for honest feedback … do you have any issues, thoughts, or ideas that you want to chat with us about? Feel free to send them to our Customer Happiness Desk, successdigestmarketplace@gmail.com, and we’ll follow up with you!