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A lot of business-related writings and articles out there talk so much about the importance of giving great customer service. They’re right, too: a lot of places really lack in customer service. However, it’s also important to be a good CUSTOMER as well.
Why?
- It makes the process less frustrating for everybody.
- Things get done.
- They will be more willing to accommodate you.
As a guy who currently works in customer service, I am always shocked and amazed at some of the treatment given by customers. Here is some advice for you to remember when dealing with customer service representatives.
If you want respect, show respect.
If your immediate reaction to a problem with a company is to call and yell at the customer service representative, or send an email in all caps, I’ve already lost respect for you as a customer. I don’t care if you gave the company money – customer service representatives are not in their position for the love of their job, and they don’t see a dime of your money. They’ve never even glanced at your situation until you brought it up, so there’s no point in getting angry with them. It’s not their fault 99% of the time.
Understand that sometimes, the rep’s hands are tied.
It’s funny, because every week I will get emails from people who want us to cancel their order, and I have to tell them that it’s too late in the process and we can’t cancel them anymore. This almost always results in a reply along the lines of “I looked at my order status – it hasn’t shipped yet, so you can cancel it. Cancel my order NOW!” Our system honestly doesn’t allow it, and there’s nothing we can do, so we just apologize. Customer service representatives are just above janitors on the totem pole, so stop assuming that they can move the earth for you.
If you curse in your email, I immediately write you off.
There is nothing more classless or disrespectful than cursing at a customer service representative who honestly did nothing to you. I know I’m supposed to go the “extra mile” for customers, but if you can’t even type an email without using stupid swear words, you can bet that I’m not going out of my way to help you. Not a chance.
The same goes for name-calling.
Yes, please, I would like to assist the person calling me a “moron” and an “idiot”. One of those emails came in the other day, and they accomplish nothing. Do you think that your request is suddenly going to go through because you called me names? We are not emotionally attached to the customers, so we will just apologize to you and move on with our day. Keep it clean and respectful, and I might be willing to look a little deeper for you.
Read the promotion details thoroughly. If you don’t qualify, you don’t qualify.
The store I work for puts out coupons and discount codes more often than Congress spends money. Every day there’s at least one person who placed an order and then got a discount code in an email and wants to apply it to the order, even though the code wasn’t active yet. Or they spent $70 and want free shipping, even though they have to spend $75. If you don’t qualify for a promotion, you don’t qualify. Move on. Rules are made for a reason, and you are wasting a lot of time for yourself and us by contacting us about it every single time.
Understand that there may be a lot of moving parts.
If we can’t change the size of the blouse you ordered before it ships, we can’t. Leave it alone. Many people just assume that I’m answering emails at a computer next to a door where we stack boxes for orders, and I can just walk over there and change out the blouse. Our warehouse is in another state, contains tens of thousands of pieces of merchandise, and employs several thousand people to run it. Yeah, we can’t change the color anymore. I’m sorry you don’t understand that.
You don’t carry as much weight as you think, so stop trying to "pull rank".
“Twitter” seems to be the magic word now. People threaten to tell all their friends to not shop at our store, and that they’re going to tell their Twitter communities too. First of all, I’ve had plenty of people in my life tell me to not shop at Walmart, but you know what? They have cheap prices on stuff, so I’m going to shop there anyway. Nobody’s going to boycott a business out of loyalty to you because we didn’t give you free shipping. Second, anybody who knows anything about social media knows that social networks are only as good as the credibility of the person sending out the message. If you are a housewife that sits around all day, nobody on Twitter cares what you think. It’s just me being honest.
If you need to complain publicly, do it with a little honor, and be strategic.
A few months ago, I had some major issues with Bank of America over my stupid credit card. Their customer service representatives made some promises that they did not follow through on. So, I searched Twitter and found that they had a Twitter account. I tweeted publicly using their username stating that their reps went back on their word, and within minutes, I had a new representative getting my contact info and giving me a call. They handled the entire situation and I got what was promised to me. I didn’t just tweet “BANK OF AMERICA SUCKS EVERYBODY SHOULD BOYCOTT THEM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”. I stated my case publicly and respectfully, and in return, I received excellent customer service in an escalated situation, and I saved myself literally hundreds of dollars in fees. Be smart about it, and you’d be surprised what you can accomplish.
It doesn’t matter what you "think" you should get.
Don’t ask for a gift card. Stop. Please. I don’t care that you think you should get a gift card for your inconvenience, or you should receive a 25% discount. That’s a quick way to guarantee that you won’t get anything, because it shows that you are more concerned with getting something for free than resolving your problem. If you want to keep making a stink about something, we’ll throw a discount your way to keep you quiet, but that’s it. It’s up to us, not you.
Stop using your children or your sorry situation to get attention/compassion.
Around Christmastime, we heard from a lot of customers saying we ruined their Christmases because their two kids weren’t going to get any presents and they’ve been unemployed for six months. Our response to each other usually is, “Then stop buying your kids presents!” We don’t differentiate customers based on their personal lives. You are all treated equally, and giving us your sob story isn’t going to change that.
One last caveat, speaking as a customer service representative: Most of us are remarkably compassionate people, and we understand the frustration that boils over when you have to deal with a lousy situation. Our company isn’t perfect, and we talk often of ways we can improve things. If you were saddled with a crappy situation based on something that we screwed up, we certainly are going to work to try to fix it for you. Unfortunately, we lose our compassion when dealing with people who act the opposite of the tips above. If you demonstrate a little awareness of your behavior, we will want to bend backwards to help resolve your situation. I believe that’s the case for most customer service departments. We don’t mind our job if we’re dealing with respectful customers.
Do you have any good customer service-related stories? Share them!
Tom is an entrepreneur and freelance writer, working out of his apartment full-time, or wherever he feels like taking his laptop. He doesn't take long European vacations or blogs on the beach. He's an Average Joe that took control of his life. He wants you to do the same.
