How important is customer service to your business? Well one person you could ask is Tony Hsieh, Founder and CEO of Zappos. Zappos is known for its focus and attention on customer service. The media is full of stories about it and how they have built their multi-million dollar business by providing an outstanding experience to their customers. Or, you could ask the CEO of the “Company X” that I just cancelled service with and get a completely different answer.
Overall, the idea is the same–get customers in and make it hard for them to leave. Now one way to do that is tune in to the customer’s needs, keep them happy, and work with them when they are not a la Zappos.
Another way to go a la “Company X” is to REALLY make it hard for them to leave… as in it takes 20 minutes in an online chat because there is no other way to contact the site. Then pitch several value offers for something you have already said you don’t want before finally allowing you to cancel. BTW–My favorite one is the “let me give you a month free to decide”. This actually means “let me see if I can make you forget about this for a month and get a couple of more billing charges because you are distracted”.
My point is, and there is a point, as a business owner, its critical to put some serious thought and planning to your customer services policies. No doubt the bad customer service I experienced with Company X was functioning exactly as it was designed to and bringing the company some extra income from people that were too busy and distracted to actually cancel or ask for customer service. Not illegal or unethical but certainly not cultivating raving fans that want to tell all their friends either. In today’s social media and instant information age, can you really afford to have a bad customer service report go viral on you? The cost to inattention here can kill your business!
So where do you start when designing your customer service policy? The best place to start is with your own experience and throw in a little research:
- Make a list of your best and worst customer service experiences. What do they have in common? What kind of experience do you want your customers to have? Cast the vision for what you want to create.
- What steps can you take to replicate (or avoid) these experiences in your own customer service policy? Do some research and see what other companies you respect are doing.
- Write your customer service policy and post it on your website. As an added bonus, the search engines like to see that you have policies and terms. It helps them identify you as a legitimate business which can translate into more SEO love.
In the end, it all comes down to what experience you want to create for your customers and business… and what you are willing to do to provide that for them.