Why bad customer service is great for business

Grumpy Face.jpg

Do you or your staff have to interact with grumpy customers?

If you never (or very rarely) have to, you may think that means your products and services are great. Maybe you are right….but, did you know that most grumpy customers don’t tell you directly about their dissatisfaction?

Most grumpy customers don’t come back or if they do, they make your team work harder by bringing grumpy to every interaction.

You don’t need to go far to confirm this - simply head over to Facebook or Insta and read the comments or listen to your friends, family or co-workers today and someone will have a story to share about a negative experience with a business.

Customers are pushing back and they (we) have never had more platforms to shout from.

Consumers of everything from Telcos to tappas and dog food to daycare get grumpy if they have to wait for service, if staff don’t know the answers to their questions, if they have to repeat themselves or do their own follow up. They want service and they want it their way and if they do take the time to complain direct to the business, it’s often too little too late.

All of this “do what I want and do it now” may seem like an impossible mission for staff to handle, but it’s not.

Infact, customers with high expectations and bad past experiences are great for business as they give skilled staff the opportunity to turn those customers into raving fans. When grumpy customers interact with polite, empathetic and professional staff, it not only surprises them but it leaves them feeling valued and when customers get more than they expetced - they share that stuff too.

A business with service excellence educated and motivated customer service staff (we call them Customer Sevice Professionals) not only delight customers but they encourage customer feedback - the good and the ‘how we could do better’. Customer Service Professionals embrace grumpy customers and complaints as opportunities to improve themselves and the business.

Customer Service Professionals love exceeding customer expectations and let’s be honest, when expectations are already low, it’s not that far to go.

If you want to create a team of Customer Service Professionals, sign up for our monthly newsletter and let us help you, help your customer service staff turn grumpy customers into raving fans.

By Cate Schreck - Service Excellence Coach