Learning from Another Brand's Customer Service Mistakes

Has your company ever had a problem with dealing with customers? We all have "off days" and do make mistakes.

Over the last few weeks, there has been a lot of chatter about a major cable and Internet provider that made “headline” news when a customer recorded a call to the company’s customer service center. All the customer wanted, was to terminate his service...a simple request, blown horribly out of proportion! The customer service agent proceeded to ask questions as to why the customer would want to disconnect and then made statements about this company being the best and providing the best price.

Whether this is true or not, it does not matter. The agent would not accept that for whatever reason, the customer wanted to terminate the service. The call went on for over 15 minutes! The call was a disaster and the customer posted the recording on social media and the incident went viral.

This is a nightmare for any brand! As a household name, this will continue to spread and be referenced for some time to come.

What can you learn from this?

While it is true that we never want to lose a customer, at the same time, what we have to offer is not a good fit for everyone. So what this company should have done, and what you can do is make it just as easy for a customer to choose to leave you, as you make it easy for them to do business with you. Yes, when they choose to stop doing business with you, ask them why, because it might simply be a miscommunication that you can clear up, or they might have an idea of a service that you could offer, but never leave a customer feeling horrible about contacting you. That last conversation will stay with them and determine whether they talk about your company in a positive or negative manner.

When people have a positive experience with a company, on average they will tell three people. When they have a negative, on average they will tell nine. But if any of that is on social media, you are looking at hundreds or thousands of people hearing about your brand and that particular experience. Remember, every interaction is an experience with your brand, make each interaction worth remembering with a smile.  

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