It is easier to sell to an existing customer than to find a new customer. That’s easier said than done because keeping customers requires a lot of hard work and strategizing. To help you out, here’s 3 mistakes to absolutely avoid.
I wrote this while on my way to Halifax, Nova Scotia from Sydney, Nova Scotia. I had a wonderful 3 week long vacation but my last day was much less than wonderful because of a “customer service experience” I had with Acadian Travel. I was very excited about the bus trip at first but Acadian made these 3 mistakes to make me feel angry and even scared to trust the driver with my life.
Regardless to say, I will never travel with them again. Unless of course, they realize their mistakes. Either way, their loss is your gain. Here are the 3 mistakes they made to lose a customer so you can avoid those and keep your customer list as well as bottom line healthy.
- Assuming the customer is wrong: It doesn’t make sense, does it? Still, a lot of businesses get self defensive whenever there is a not-so-good issue. I was settled in my seat and ready for the bus ride when Acadian complained to me that my ticket wasn’t valid. They told me somebody, rather rudely, that it had been used in 2009. Shocked I told them I had bought the ticket just yesterday. Then I was told rather rudely to either pay my fare or leave.
That’s when I got ticked off. Here’s why:
- The driver assumed that I was in for a free ride and spoke to me rudely in front of other customers. And I thought it was a big no-no to insult your customers?
Either way, if you are in a similar situation, make sure you speak to a customer in private and keep your tone down!
2. Not checking the facts: It is one thing to call the customer wrong, another to call the customer wrong without checking it thoroughly. As it turns out, my ticket was indeed valid, the driver had read out the wrong numbers.
My advice to you is make sure you check, double check and even triple check the facts (preferably you will have more than one people check it) before you bring up an issue with the customer where the customer could be wrong.
3. Correct your mistakes fast: So you made a terrible customer service mistake just like Acadian? Well, you can still make it better if you make it right fast. Start by saying sorry and then by offering something as a “we’re so sorry” gift. It’s fine if the customer refuses your gift, ask if they’d like anything else and if they still say no, apologize again and move on.
You can neutralize a bad customer experience by trying to make it better. Your customer might still be angry but they will give you points for trying.
The bottom line: Your customers pay for the party. Keep them happy.
Anyway, had any terrible customer service experiences lately? Care to share?
