Who Says the Customer is Always Right? by Diane Hughes - http://www.adminder.com/
We all know
the old adage, "The Customer is Always Right." If you are an
online business owner or offline for that matter, you are on both sides
of the subject almost everyday. Before I
started my online business, I was just on one side ... the customer. I
whole-heartedly believed in the above adage and never questioned it at
all. In fact, I would get rather perturbed at ANY business owner,
manager, or supervisor that would disagree with any complaint I had. When I
started my own online business back in 1997, I slowly began to learn the
"other side."
Be your own boss! My
business products are all downloadable. If your business includes
downloaded material, you know where I'm going with this one. I get
NUMEROUS complaints EVERYDAY about usernames and passwords not working,
corrupt downloads, and the big one ... "I can't open the
download." Now I always reply in a very helpful gesture, but my
first question is always, "Are you entering the username and
password exactly as shown?" This seems to be one of the
"biggies" with newbies. They do not understand
"case-sensitive" -- heck -- they don't even know what that
means! But
it doesn't matter HOW simple I make the instructions and overall
download process, I STILL get these everyday. I am accused of being a
"scammer" at least 4 - 5 times a week ... and that's on a GOOD
week! :o) The whole point of the above example is NOT that customers are wrong -- that's not the problem at all. Many of them are very new to the internet and sadly, they do not read through the directions most of the time. I have found that I basically have to put myself back into the "newbie" frame of mind -- as hard as that is to do! I don't remember NOT knowing how to download, enter case-sensitive passwords, etc.
Be your own boss! You MUST try
to understand that customer ... at the point of contact, whether by
email or phone; they have probably sat there for HOURS trying to figure
it out. They are irritated, angry, and they've pretty much decided at
that point that you scammed them. Yes, it's
irritating getting these "dumb" questions and emails even when
you have them broken down so simply in the instructions. But face it,
you're going to get them and you will get them often as more and more
climb on the "web wagon." When I get a
very insulting email (yes, I HAVE been called the "B-word,"
the "MF-word," and recently a new one that I have never heard
before ... it was quite disgusting), I do not answer it immediately. I
let my initial anger subside. When I can read through it and giggle ...
it's time to answer. I find that 80 - 90% of the time, the customer is
VERY embarrassed of their initial email by the time I have helped them
courteously through their problems. I had to
learn this process through time. Believe me ... I am a VERY sensitive
person and I used to take these to heart. It HURT! I had to revert back
to my "customer side" as well as the "newbie" frame
of mind and do my best to understand the person's anger. One angry
customer can lead to thousands if not millions in lost business revenue!
Especially on the internet. That one customer tells one friend who in
turn tells another and so on a so forth. You COULD get a real
"psycho" customer that decides to start a website all about
YOUR company and YOUR poor service or product. Watch that one spread like a virus! :o) On the other hand, exercise great customer service (get those emails answered within 24 hours, folks) and watch the *praise* of your company spread! I guarantee that you just GAINED thousands in sales! MOST importantly remember these three things:
q
LOVE
YOUR CUSTOMER q
UNDERSTAND
YOUR CUSTOMER q VALUE YOUR CUSTOMER You are NOTHING without them. Treat them like gold and you will RECEIVE gold in return!
Be your own boss!
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