In recent years it appears there has been a significant deterioration of customer service in businesses all over the country, perhaps the world. Customer service is almost taken for granite in business today and one of the biggest factors has been the outsourcing of these jobs. There is no pride in customer support any longer and it is one of the biggest factors relating to a downfall of a business.
Recently I was faced with updating credit card information with several businesses I use for services such as cell phone, TV and radio to name a few. The absolute incompetence of customer service I received was very discouraging. In fact, it made me re-think taking my business elsewhere. Customer support is such a big part of business that it will make or break your company. Once a customer feels they are just a number and not card for they will leave and move on to your competitor, bank on it.
XM radio was introduced to the market in 2001 and the satellite radio craze was sparked. Commercial free music and talk radio that goes beyond state borders. No longer did you have to settle for local radio or constantly hit scan on your radio to find a channel in the area you were driving. I purchased the XM Radio in 2002 and subscribed to the service for roughly eight years. It’s safe to say I purchased XM Radio before a large portion of our population understood the concept. My XM Radio has been in two cars I owned and for the majority of the eight years I enjoyed the service and its stations. Until recently I found that I wasn’t using it enough to justify the $15 a month price tag. I recently called them to cancel my membership since the service fee had become out of hand, each year increasing in cost. When I was able to get a hold of a customer service agent and inform him that I wanted to cancel my membership, I was hit with a barrage of special discounts and free offers. I listened and said no thank you to one special and right away they would offer me another special, this went on for minutes as he went through every special they must offer to canceling members. He offered me four different specials including decreasing my monthly payment to $9 dollars. Now originally it was the cost of the service as to why I wanted to cancel my membership and after listening to this poorly trained customer service agent, cost was not a factor, I wanted out regardless. Why? In the midst of offering discount after discount he not once asked me why I wanted to cancel? He was trained to offer a special price or product discount to keep members from leaving, not to listen to the customer and hear what they had to say or their questions, comments or concerns. Big mistake by XM to let this happen, they are now less one customer who has essentially been with them from the start.
Online chat support has been around for a couple years now and more companies are transitioning to this phase of customer service. I for one find it to be convenient and any time I don’t have to pick up the phone to talk to a support agent is a plus for me. Comcast offers this service to its members if you simply login to your account you can chat with an agent online. On a side note, Comcast is outrageous in cost of services. It’s common for me to pay $200 per month for a bundled service. I do business with Comcast because frankly I’ve used them for years and didn’t know better. So I connect to an agent in online chat, remember all I want to do was update my credit card information and possibly disconnect a home phone that never gets used. There was not an option for me to do this on their website so I figured they would be able to help me in online chat. After waiting several minutes to connect with an agent, I soon realize it was a waste of time. Since I connected to an internet specialist, she was unable to help me with my phone services. In fact she gave me a 1-800 number to call so I could speak to a phone specialist, a separate department. I was outraged that I waited all this time to have an agent tell me she couldn’t do anything I was asking online and I needed to call a number. I ask you Comcast what is the use of online chat when you have to call any way? I phone Comcast and express my disgust; especially since they informed me it would cost $50-$75 just to disconnect the phone. Really, that much money to push a button on their end? I proceed to tell the agent I’ve received a better offer from a competitor and I was paying too much money for the bundled service. I told them I wanted a discount or I am leaving. Well after several minutes this agent played the role of “trying to find you the best possible deal” I was discounted $50 off my monthly bill, some special they run for new customers. You mean to tell me they are offering better deals to new customers when I’ve been a customer for over 10 years? I took the discount to save the hassle buying into a new service for only a couple months until I move but I can guarantee my Comcast days are numbered. Again, poor customer service leads to a decrease in business.
These are just a couple examples from the past week of terrible customer service. My first job out of college was in sales and I can remember the lack of education in customer support. A lot of sales people feel they need to lower their price to keep customers when in fact people want to be treated like their business is important. I was fortunate enough to grow up in a family business where I learned firsthand how to treat people to keep them coming back. I feel that you build a relationship first and business comes second. When you get to know your customers on a personal level you’re able to develop a relationship that will extend beyond the lowest price. The lowest price isn’t always what the consumer is after. The consumer needs to know that they will be treated as if they are the only customer. I know from experience that I was not always the lowest priced service but I my customer support goes above and beyond the call of duty. My father bought cars from one dealership for over 30 years. The car dealer was not always the lowest price in an industry where price is king. Why did he continue to do business with this car dealer? He was treated like a king and was on a first name basis with every employee, he was treated to golf and dinners by the owners. He knew that anytime he had a problem with one of his cars it would be taken care of immediately. This is what keeps people coming back.
So the next time you are come across a terrible customer support, keep in mind there is always another option. If you’re a business owner keep in mind that your employees need training and it could be the reason why you are losing business.
Inbound marketing, or any form of online marketing for that matter, has pros and cons just like your traditional avenues for marketing. Inbound marketing takes considerable time and on most instances the leads do not generate over night. The biggest pro of inbound marketing however, is that your leads are pre-qualified. Almost 100% of your leads will be people looking for a particular product or service and by searching Google or other search engines, your name, website, product or service has the potential to show up in rankings. What does this mean? When you allow people to choose you or your business you become more than just a provider you become a source of knowledge or expertise in your field.
Let’s give you an example of how this could work in real life. You blog about fashion design and because you own a boutique you are very knowledgeable about fashion. Since you have been blogging about fashion and have used several relevant terms to people searching for fashion tips, hot trends or local clothing, you begin to climb in organic search rankings. Emails and phone calls begin to trickle in (inbound) from people asking about your store and clothing. Since they have taken the time to search and find numerous articles you have written about fashion and clothing you stock in your store, people begin to visit your store or website looking for the hottest outfits. Why? Because they know your store carries certain brands due to in the inbound marketing efforts of blogging about those brands.
This happens all over the world and can be used for any product or service. When you are able to provide valuable content and cast your pole in the consumer pond, your business is extending its hand to those that are in need of your product or service. You’re generating exposure through inbound marketing efforts to do the selling for you. Your not picking up the phone to cold call people during dinner. When you give your customers the opportunity to find you they are not only interested in your product or services but they will also be more willing to open their wallets.
One of the biggest cons of internet marketing or inbound marketing is that it takes time. By time I mean months, perhaps longer. It truly depends on how focused your efforts are and how saturated your area of expertise may be with other businesses. There are certainly no shortage of clothing stores so it’s imperative that you separate your store and clothing from the rest. If you’re clothing is more expensive than the Gap, be prepared to explain to the customer why and what makes your clothing different from the Gap. Internet marketing works the best for niche businesses so giving an explanation on why your clothes or services are more expensive and sometimes declining business is all a part of the process. You don’t need to make every sale for every customer that contacts; in fact I would recommend saying no every so often if you feel the customer does not believe in your businesses services.
The companies that are able to bridge the communication gap between consumers and providers are the companies that succeed. Eventually you will find out that it will become necessary to implement some form of inbound marketing to cast your business pole. As always, Inbound Promotions is here to help your small business with its online marketing efforts when needed.
