Do You Truly Listen to Your Customers?

Sometimes companies are so busy insisting that they are right that they forget to listen to their customers. And instead of providing stellar customer service and improving both customer relations and company good will, they alienate those valuable customers. Companies have got to stop ignoring customer feedback while trying to make it seem like they care. Drop the act. We know when you’re not really listening to us.

A few days ago, my son woke up crying. Usually some milk and a little cuddling take care of it and he goes back to sleep. That night it wasn’t the case. We made sure he was okay and checked all the basic needs. He didn’t want milk, and he kept crying even as we held, bounced and walked around with him. We were at our wits end. Since he did not seem ill, we just settled into bed with him and held and comforted him. We just let him cry it out while soothingly talking to him. Eventually, his crying eased up and he settled down. He finally was sleepy enough that we could put him back in the crib. There was nothing wrong with him except he was overtired. He just needed us to be there with him, and let him “get it out.”

And sometimes companies need to allow their customers to do the same. Many of us have had calls where the customer service representative interrupted us and didn’t let us tell them what was wrong. It’s frustrating, isn’t it? You need to teach your customer service people to let customers tell their story. Let them get everything out, and then you can ask questions and figure out how you can help. Sometimes, people just need you to acknowledge their frustration, even if you can’t make things better. But if you constantly cut them off, they’re only going to get angrier.

I used to work for a cell phone company and got a lot of irate calls. People get highly agitated when it comes to their mobile phones. One tactic that worked well for me was to just let the customer rant, rave, and scream, if needed. Then when they were done venting, we could address the real problem. I learned quickly that interrupting to ask questions only fired them up more. Waiting until they finished, and then asking questions in a calm manner went a long way towards defusing the situation.

I recently read of another writer who had a problem with her cable service. The bad customer service, along with policies that offer better deals to new customers than it does to existing, caused her to look for alternatives. Another customer lost.

In this economy — or any time — you shouldn’t be driving customers away. Take a long look at your current practices. Are they good for the customer, or just convenient for you? You can’t afford to push away your customers. None of us can.

image: sxc.hu