How many times have you called a wrong number? At least a few times. You probably found out because the person on the other end told you that you were in the wrong place.

When a customer calls up your business phone number, how do they know they are in the right place?

You have to tell them.

It’s simple, I know. Unfortunately, many businesses don’t identify themselves when customers call.

I called the merchant account company that we use for our Family Says business and was greeted with an automated message. This message didn’t tell me which company I had reached but rather jumped right into the phone tree maze.

All the department options were generic and could probably apply to my merchant company but I was never sure.

Once I finally reached a human, I found myself having to hand over account information to a person that I could only hope was really from the company that handles my account.

Do your customers ever end up in this position? They shouldn’t!

The same day I had the trouble above, I called Authorize.net to ask a question. I was greeted with: “Thanks for calling Authorize.Net. You can press 0 at any time to talk to a customer service representative.” Then, only after telling me who they were and how to shortcut to a person, did they take me into the phone tree directory.

There was no confusion and I was free from any doubts about who I had reached.

Your customers have enough doubts as it is. Don’t throw one more at them by not clearly stating who you are when you answer the phone.

There is a simple solution: greet any incoming phone call by stating your company name.

Businesses have an ethical and moral obligation to meet their responsibilities and care for customers.

Recent news reports have mentioned phone company Sprint is firing 1000 high maintenance customers. While that may be a sad tale, the customers will probably survive and move on to another carrier.

What happens when a customer has a major dependency on a business? What if that customer’s life depended on the business?

My grandfather has been in an assisted living center in Raleigh, North Carolina. Because of his age, he has lost a lot of his physical and mental capabilities. His dependence on his care providers is significant.

Would you “fire” my grandpa? I’d hope not! However, that is exactly what Pine Tree Villa in Raleigh did.

According to the local News and Observer report:

The operators of a West Raleigh adult care home, Pine Tree Villa, have told residents they have 30 days to move out, paving the way for renovations designed to attract a better-paying group of residents.

The more than 50 residents of the facility on Duraleigh Road heard the news in meetings last week. But state and county officials said the oral notice violates state rules that require homes to tell residents in writing and give them 30 days warning.

…

“Some of these residents can’t handle the constant change — routine is everything,” said Holly Harper, who heads the [resident] association. “One of my tablemates has been in tears. She’s up at the nurse’s station and crying and wanting someone to tell her it’s OK.”

Harper said Friday that staff members, faced with the shutdown of Pine Tree Villa, have begun to neglect residents

You may decide that your business would be better with different clientèle. That is fine. However, you have certain obligations you must fulfill.

Obey the Law

The meeting at the care facility presented a “get out now” message to the residents. This obviously didn’t meet the 30 day written requirement.

Even if you have no moral code of conduct, the legal system is in place to help keep you somewhat on track. You can not violate the laws and regulations governing your business and its dealings with customers.

Be Honest

Once word got out about the meeting, some publicity and pressure got applied to Pine Tree Villa. They then composed a letter, back dated it, and sent it out to residents.

Be honest, even though the truth hurts. Trying to rewrite history in your favor will never work. The truth will eventually be exposed.

Fulfill Your Responsibilities

The week before this “get out” meeting, my grandpa experienced deteriorating care. He wasn’t bathed for a week and was stuck in the same clothes everyday for that time.

You have a commitment to care for your customers! The ship may be sinking, but you don’t have to take them with you.

Ease the Transition

If you find you must dismiss customers, help them find a replacement. Give them alternatives, help them move, and pay the transition costs. There are several ways you can make that transition less painful.

Critical Customer Service

Certain services like health care, education, emergency services, utilities, and senior care centers (among others) have customers whose lives literally depend on them. These service providers are given an even larger responsibility and trust to care for their clients.

If you signed up to run a business in these critical areas, you’ve promised to live a higher law. Pursuit of short term financial gains to the detriment of your customers can have life and death consequences. Choose wisely.

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You probably get incoming emails and calls all the time from external and internal customers. Often, these can be reports of problems or bugs in your product or service.

I read a great blog post recently titled Are You Giving Customers a “Thanks for Letting Us Know Kiss-Off”? That question caused me to do some self-evaluation!

Some steps the author, Tom Vander Well, highlights are very applicable to how you respond when a customer reports a problem:

World-class customer service requires more than a “thanks for letting us know kiss-off”. It requires resolution:

1. Describe the exact actions that have been taken to address the issue.
2. Provide the current status of the actions being taken to resolve the issue.
3. Give an accurate estimate of the time it will take to fix the problem.
4. Promise to notify the customer when the issue is resolved.

Customers want courteous, friendly service – but it must come hand in hand with resolution of the issue!

In addition to setting customer expectations on resolution, you should always try to give them a work-around of some type.

Your users don’t really care that you have a bunch of internal processes or red tape to get through before you fix their problem. They want resolution and they want to accomplish the task your product or service was making difficult or impossible.

Help customers get their task done. Jeffrey Gitomer in his Customer Satisfaction is Worthless, Customer Loyalty is Priceless suggests filling in the blanks when responding to customers:

“The best way to handle that is ______________”

“The fastest way to get that done is __________”

“The easiest way to get that is ______________”

I’ve found that it is a lot easier to deliver some bad news (like maybe we can’t fix that issue yet) when coupled with a valid solution the customer can use in the interim.

When was the last time someone told you how much they appreciated you? How do you feel when you get a thank you note?

If you’re like most, you get a warm fuzzy feeling inside. You smile. You feel a little bit better.

Don’t you think your customers would like to feel that same joy?

My wife had to call our bank the other day to discuss a charge on our account. The bank representative looked up our account information and said “I see you’ve been a customer of ours for some time. We really appreciate your business.”

Thanks for noticing!

Your long-term customers are loyal and faithful to your business. Keep them happy with some of these key steps:

• Don’t treat customers as just random account numbers. Personalize your interactions with them so they know you actually value them as individuals.
• Give current customers special promotions, discounts, or benefits that new customers don’t receive. Nothing makes me as frustrated as seeing the “new customers only” fine print on all these amazing offers I see advertised by my current service providers.
• Remember your customer’s history. Don’t treat your next interaction with them like you have to start everything over from scratch. Build upon your relationship with customers with relevant recommendations and service options. You should know what type of upgrade a current customer needs or that their widget was sent in for repair last month. Your customer should not get the impression that you’re asking “do I know you?” when they call.

Your customers want to be appreciated. Thank them with your words and actions.

Each customer that passes through your business requires some time to service. You should be able to track that time and measure how long it takes you to serve the average customer.

Last week I took my recently purchased eyeglasses back to Lenscrafters to get them repaired. I walked into their very busy store on a Saturday afternoon. Almost every chair was taken by a customer and I knew I was in for a long wait.

One of the employees looked up from helping a customer and greeted me with “Can I help you?”

I explained the glasses I had purchased had some defects and needed to be repaired. He then told me I’d have to wait.

“How long do you think the wait will be?” I asked.

“I don’t know,” the employee sighed as he labored to visibly count all the people that were waiting. “You have three people ahead of you.”

As I walked over to the wall to stand and wait, I wondered, “Why didn’t he know how long it would take to serve three customers?”

Surely each customer takes an average amount of time to serve. You can figure out based on that time, and how many employees you have working, just how long it should take until I get helped.

However, this employee didn’t know the answer to that question. Because of this, he couldn’t set my expectation and I almost left the store because I thought it could take all afternoon.

How could this be improved?

Measure

Track how long it takes to help customers. Measure and record this data over time and you’ll see certain patterns emerging. You should identify that particular transactions typically take similar times to complete.

Why measure? Two reasons: better customer service and improved operational efficiency for your business.

Set Expectations

When you know how long it takes to help customers, you can set their expectations. A customer who knows they need to wait ten minutes might be okay if they just know that is how long it will take. The unknown factor of waiting drives customers insane.

Web hosting company Hostway used this principle to eliminate the “on hold” black hole.

Optimize

Once you know how long it takes for you to perform transactions, you can distribute your efforts accordingly. You’ll see your busy times and can schedule more staff to help.

By analyzing the process, you’ll be able to see if there are glaring inefficiencies that could be improved.

Knowing the average customer service time can really help your business shine. It will allow you to better serve customers and identify gaps in your current processes.

I tried to login to my Gmail email account the other day and was greeted by this error:

Server Error
The server encountered a temporary error and could not complete your request.

Please try again in 30 seconds.

Oh, no! What happened? Is my email in danger? When will I be able to get my email?

Cryptic error messages can lead your customers down some scary psychological paths. They will imagine the worst case scenario even when the problem is minor.

The next time I tried Gmail, I got a better message:

We’re sorry, but your Gmail account is currently experiencing errors. You won’t be able to log in while these errors last, but don’t worry, your account data and messages are safe. Our engineers are working to resolve this issue.

Please try logging in to your account again in a few minutes.

This message helped eliminate any fear, uncertainty, and doubt with these words: “don’t worry, your account data and messages are safe.”

A simple, yet reassuring message is all it takes keep your customers calm.

If you have a sense of humor, you can combine the practical example above with that of popular photo sharing site Flickr. When catastrophe strikes Flickr, instead of yelling “Server Error,” they proudly proclaim “Flickr is having a massage”.

Whether you are funny or serious, remember three things:

1. Reassure your customers that their data is safe
2. Set expectations of when everything will be back to normal
3. Instruct the customers on what they can do in the interim