Talk to anyone, anywhere, anyplace in the United States and you will hear a story about abominable customer service. It’s not industry, demographically, or geographically specific. It’s everywhere and, some would argue, getting worse.
Customers ask “Why do they treat me this way?” as they most times slink away tail between their legs feeling as if he have no recourse.
Congratulations! You just broke the code.
As someone who does not remain quiet when treated poorly I’ve come to the following conclusions.
Customer Service departments are set up in such a way as to discourage a complaint, legitimate or otherwise from ever landing on the desktop of someone with the clout and business acumen to say, “Wait, we need to fix this.”
Rat-maze voice-mail systems with what seems like 2,000 options and an equal number of menu layers to the form letter or non-response to an e-mail that fails to address the concerns of the customer. The entire process is designed not to satisfy the customer, but to make him or her go away.
If, in the unlikely event that the customer is persistent enough to continue to badger the company, only then will they receive the attention every customer deserves.
Why does it happen in this manner?
Simple economics. If 100 people call, e-mail or snail mail regarding a similar issue and as a company I can frustrate 80 of them into going away, another 17 into the “At least I got something” category and 3 who were actually a big enough annoyance that the company offers them what should have been offered to all for their error, then as a company I lower operating costs.
Take a look at the economics of bad customer service.
Take the above numbers and let’s say that a modest, yet fair compensation would be a $200 travel voucher. With a total of 100 people that means the company has a maximum exposure of $20,000. About 80 percent of our imaginary group just go away, leaving the maximum exposure now at $4,000. The 17 who raised a bit of a fuss each get $100 vouchers, while the 3 who raised a major stink now get $300.
The best part of it is when you take a look at the numbers. In my example the company had a $20,000 exposure that it made go away for $2,600 or 13 cents on the dollar.
If you believe as airlines do that all customers want is a cheap fare then the type of spreadsheet mentality will continue unabated. The current crop of MBAs running domestic airlines often can’t see beyond the metrics and grasp the simple fact that passengers are not self loading cargo, rather they are someones son, daughter, aunt, uncle, or grandparents, and as such have a reasonable expectation of having what they purchased delivered as promised and if not then a reasonable avenue to pursue to seek compensation, refunds and the like.
No one expects perfection. The mark of a good company is how they treat their customers. The mark of a great company is how they treat their customers when things do go wrong.
(Photo: alist/Flickr Creative Commons)
