Caring for Your Customers

Home
>
Customer Service
>
Caring for Your Customers

Caring for Your Customers

You probably think I am going to say something like, "The customer is always right." Right?? Wrong.

I have many philosophies when dealing with customers, but I definitely do not believe that the customer is always right. However, when the customer is wrong, you must handle the situation delicately.

There are many types of customers and each one needs to be treated with respect and consideration no matter how difficult they may be. I have found that most (not all) people can be soothed out of their "nastiness".

I used to work at our local casino and I would get all kinds of customers to deal with. Most of them were very pleasant as in the IM business, but there were a few that were very difficult. There was this one night when I came in contact with this particularly difficult lady who, of course, was having bad luck. She was just a bit**in" and blaming the casino!!

I calmly yet firmly talked to her in a reassuring and respectful manner each and every time I came around. I noticed that each time I did talk to her she became more and more relaxed and controlled. Until finally, later in the evening, I went into the Ladies Room and who should be there, but the difficult lady! Well, as I came in, she burst out, " There she is. There's that girl who was so nice to me all night long and made me feel so much better"! She could not have been more grateful. ;-)

Now this will not happen everytime you run into a difficult customer, but it could happen often. Treat people with respect, kindness and consideration and more often then not, you will be able to calm down a dissatisfied, belligerent customer. Listen to the customer and let them know you will do everything possible to get the problem resolved. Show them that you care!

You need to actually care about your customer and care about making sure they are satisfied with you and your service and/or product. Do not just think of the customer as another sale.

If you get the eternally nasty customer who will not be consoled no matter what you do, do not lose control or sink to their level. Remain calm but firm. The customer is not always right no matter how much they think they are. Be courteous and polite.

Since I have been online, I have only encountered about three customers of the eternally nasty type. ;-) I did my best, but to no avail. So I had no choice but to send them on their way. I stood up for myself and for MOE and did not insult them in any way. But as we know, there is just no pleasing some people.

I would say that 99% of the people I have encountered online have been absolutely wonderful! They make it easy to treat them with respect and courtesy. I, who has been painfully shy most of my life, love working with people and enjoy interacting with them online and offline. I think all (well, almost all) people are good in one way or another and deserve to be treated as such.

This is why I do business by the motto: Treat others as you would like to be treated and Be true to yourself and your customers!

About The Author

Terri Seymour owns and operates MyOwnEzine.com

You can contact Terri at mailto:ter02@newnorth.net

In The News:

APAC Customer Services Expands in Panama
MarketWatch (press release)
BANNOCKBURN, IL, May 23, 2012 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) -- APAC Customer Services, Inc. (APAC) announced the opening of a new, state of the art contact center in Panama. The new site commenced operations on May 17th. The opening included a gala event and ...

Bottomline Technologies Named 2012 Quality Service Provider of the Year
MarketWatch (press release)
The Awards, sponsored by the Institute of Customer Service, highlight and reward organizations and individuals that have implemented successful customer service strategies. The participants in this prestigious event include many of the largest ...

and more »

Moneycontrol.com
Vodafone Wants to Replicate Amazon's Customer Service Success
Wall Street Journal (blog)
“Vodafone wants to be the Amazon of telecos,” not in terms of selling but rather top-class customer service, Mr. Colao told reporters at a lunchtime briefing. The UK-based company plans to refit 75% of its 2200 stores around the world by 2015 to give ...
Vodafone CEO details 'Supermobile' strategy to mimic AmazonFierceWireless

all 58 news articles »

Augusta T-Mobile customer service center not affected by restructuring
The Augusta Chronicle
By Gracie Shepherd T-Mobile announced a corporate restructuring plan this week that will result in 350 net job reduction, but it will not effect the Augusta customer service center. Approximately 900 positions are being eliminated as a result of these ...
T-Mobile in Springfield holding hiring eventKSPR

all 2 news articles »

Is Your Customer Service Multichannel?
Huffington Post
The Challenge: Just as businesses must provide customers with a wide variety of marketing channels to choose from, they must allow a choice of multiple service channels. As we've discussed previously, multichannel marketing enables delivery of messages ...

and more »

Rio Bank Enhances Customer Service and Teller Efficiency with Self-Service ...
MarketWatch (press release)
The Cummins Allison self-service coin counter has helped Rio Bank differentiate themselves from other banks in their market, deliver personalized customer service and streamline teller efficiency. Prior to the coin counter, tellers used a mostly manual ...

and more »

Customer Service Rep
WEAU-TV 13
The cost per job listing is a mere fraction of similar services, while reaching a substantial local audience. To list a job, please click the "Post a Job" icon. All job listings will remain on the Job Board for 30 days. WEAU 13 News will archive all ...

and more »

Coveo Survey of Customer Care Executives Finds Customers, Executives and ...
MarketWatch (press release)
In the survey of more than 120 customer service and support executives conducted April 17 at the 2012 Customer Care Leadership Forum in New York, only 15 percent reported that their customers, if asked, would say that they could get to information they ...
Companies Lack Contextual Customer Data1to1 Media (blog)

all 3 news articles »

SciQuest Names Customer Service and Operations Management Leader Teresa B ...
MarketWatch (press release)
Jamison brings more than 23 years of experience and proven success in customer service and training and operations management at leading healthcare IT organizations to SciQuest. As vice president of customer operations, she will lead SciQuest's ...

and more »

Marketron Focuses on Customer With Company Realignment
Sacramento Bee
By Marketron HAILEY, Idaho, May 23, 2012 -- /PRNewswire/ -- Marketron, the leading provider of software solutions and services for the media industry, today announced a reorganization of its leadership team to better serve and support its customers and ...
Marketron reorganizes senior-level management into sales and client serviceRadio-Info.com

all 16 news articles »

Google News