CUSTOMER
SATISFACTION, WHAT A JOKE!
I laugh sometimes at the companies that brag about their
high ranking in customer satisfaction. These are the same companies that fall
short of their promises, preach about their policies and consistently put you
on hold, or better yet throw you into an eternal pit of "Please press
HELL".
At one point in my life I used to believe that it was the
fault of the companies providing these substandard practices, but over the
years it has become very apparent that the real culprit is the consumer. We
have allowed this to happen to us! We have accepted this behavior and made it a
part of doing business as a consumer….. When has there become a cost of being a
consumer?
An example of this point; my wife recently passed away while
I was on a business trip. The company that I worked for went to great lengths
to get me to the airport in record time. When we got to the ticket desk the
lady at the desk spoke broken English, and most likely didn’t understand the
magnitude of the situation. We told her the circumstances and asked her for the
next flight out. She told us that there was one leaving in 2 hours but there
was no way I was getting on that flight. Then she elaborated, “If we do get you
on to that flight, which we can’t, you will have to pay another $200”. WOW! My
wife just died, I would pay a million dollars to be home with my 12 year old
daughter, and you can’t get me on the flight anyway. Why rub it in? I am not
the kind of guy to hit a lady, but at that moment, I think it would have been
justified.
I was horrified obviously at her response and instead of arguing;
I politely thanked her for her lack of compassion and told her and her
supervisor who was standing nearby, that I would call a real airline. I got on
the phone and called another airline and explained my situation. She gave me
her condolences and informed me that there was a booked flight leaving from
another airport in the next hour and a half. She assured me that not only would
she get me on that airplane, I would be the second person on it.
The first scenario could be categorized as customer service.
I was a customer, and to some extent, I was getting service. The second
scenario was beyond customer service. Beyond even customer satisfaction. It was
“customer
is going to come back for a long time”!
I have to ask you in your business, what kind of experience
are your customers getting? If they are complaining, will you really listen to
their worries? Will you take them by the hand and guide them to “customer is
going to come back for a long time”.
You see when a customer complains, they are giving you the
opportunity to make things right. You are actually lucky that they cared enough
to even give you a second chance to make it right. Only eight percent of the
people who feel they have received poor service will give you a second chance.
8%!!!!!!
Come on people; let’s get it right the first time! Bottom
line is, “TAKE CARE OF YOUR CUSTOMERS,
OR SOMEONE ELSE WILL!” and that is a proven fact. When your customers know
you care about them, they WILL care about you.
By the way, the first airline was American Airlines and the
second was Southwest Airlines. Kind of funny, who is posting a profit in down
times and who isn’t!
