► Your Mission Statement is wrong or
incomplete. Too often a mission statement is created by your ad agency. No one
knows it. No one gets it and it doesn’t relate to the customer in any
way.
► Poor examples set by upper
management lead to the proverbial "trickle down" effect and what trickles down
is a negative or indifferent attitude toward the customer.
►
No written principles for customers are established. You have a bunch of rules
and policies, but most are written in terms of the company—not the customer.
► An employee is allowed to be rude
or to say "no" to a customer. When you deny a customer, their need still
exists AND they are mad. A complaining customer should not be seen as a
"hassle," but as an opportunity to develop extraordinary customer service
skills.
► We are living in an era of
responsibility shirkers and blamers. "It’s not my job" is their credo. Does
the person who takes a complaint follow through to see that it was handled
properly to completion? Do you reward your employees for exceptional customer
service in difficult situations?
► Businesses are concerned with
customer "satisfaction" and not "loyalty." Satisfied customers will still shop
anywhere. Loyal customers will fight before they switch and will get others to
do business with you by referral.
►
Companies make the fatal mistake
of providing only company policy training. They may provide some
customer service guidelines, but also need to focus on personal development
such as keeping a positive attitude, setting goals, listening and accepting
responsibility.
► Employers only train once in a while instead of
making customer service training a vital part of every day.
