It seems like hardly a week goes by that I don't see an example of poor customer service. Sometimes poor customer service is a result of poor training. Sometimes it’s as a result of a bad employee with a bad attitude. And other times yet poor customer service as a result of bad policies by the company. The question we have to answer is when is it worth the fight to try to get a refund or some other relief for the poor customer service?

For example, you order some fast food from a restaurant that is 5 miles away from your home. When you get home you discover that the order was wrong. So, you call the restaurant and tell them about the mistake, and an employee probably well meaning, tells you if you come on back we'll be glad to give you the right item.  So, let's say that the right food just happens to be an order of French fries they forgot to put in the bag. Are you going to drive 5 miles back to the restaurant to get a dollars’ worth of French fries?  Probably not!  Why? Because it's not worth the trouble.

I have found that when we have that issue occasionally the restaurant will be glad to honor or fix the mistake the next time you come in.  Most of the time I would say that would be an agreeable solution. People can make mistakes, we all do.  As a consumer, we have to recognize that it might have been an innocent mistake for whatever reason and even though it irritated us, it would not be worth a big battle to get resolution. 

Now recently I had a problem with a local newspaper. I was paying $4.99 per month for online access to their website. Last month I was suddenly charged $16.99 for my subscription instead of the $4.99. I called the number for the subscription department I told them that I was not happy with that charge and to cancel my subscription and I would like a refund because I did not authorize the charge for $16.99. The lady I spoke to said she was sorry that I was cancelling my service, and of course she tried to talk me into not cancelling.  I don't recall whether she commented or not about a possible refund. Now at that time, the representative did not say anything to me about the price going up because this was the end of a trial period, for example.

So, this month I was once again charged $16.99. Obviously, I wasn't very happy about that. This time I emailed the customer service department of the paper, explained the situation, explained that I had not authorized a charge on my card for $16.99, and demanded a refund, and to make sure my subscription was cancelled.

I get a reply back from the paper saying that the reason the price went up was because it was a 26-week trial that I had signed up for and it was time for the price to go up. I was also told that there was no refunds per their terms and conditions on page A-2 and on their online website for online subscriptions.  Now from a customer service standpoint I think you can see that there are two problems with the reply that I received.

1st, it is possible I signed up for this special price for a limited period of time. I don't remember that. That doesn't mean that i'm right or they're wrong or vice versa. But had the paper taken one little step which is very easily done with technology, the whole problem could have been resolved before it even happened.

What is that step?

Had I simply received an e-mail prior to the date for the price to go up, in other words before the increased charge, I could have chosen to cancel at that time before they charged me, or I could have said OK I'll pay the higher price. I received no such notice:  No notice of increased price; No notice of trial period expiring; Nothing.

Now the second problem is really much bigger, and they are definitely wrong in their actions and their reply. What really irritated me was when they charged my account a second month for the higher price. I told them to cancel my service so that charge should have never happened!  I had pretty much decided that it wasn’t worth a big battle to get the first charge refunded.  But when they charged me the second time that changed the whole ball game. The reason being is I might have been wrong in not recognizing the end of a trial period and higher price for the first charge, but I definitely did not authorize a second charge at that price! The representative that replied to me, apparently didn't bother to actually read my complaint and take the time to understand it. Either that or that representative was so glued to their robotic policies that they don't take time to think and say hey there is a problem here. Had the reply been “yes, I see that you canceled, and we should not have charged you the 2^nd time, we will issue that refund,” the battle would have ended right there.  Now the situation rose to a new level.  I contacted my bank, disputed both charges, and have received a credit to my account.

The final resolution may change.  There are many twerks with credit card and debit card charges and disputes that go along with them.  But the bigger damage, as far as this company is concerned, is that I will probably never do business with them again.  That will probably include any possible advertising I might have done for my business in the future.

Employers have a difficult time hiring good people, or sometimes even finding anybody to work.  Good customer service must be trained, and it must be a part of a company’s culture.  Sadly, some companies look at a situation like the two examples above and are willing to gamble that most consumers won’t bother to fight for a small refund or to solve a small problem.  Even if they do not push to get the refund, a business must consider how much collateral damage might be done by having a rightfully dissatisfied customer who is now telling everyone else about their dissatisfaction. 

If you would like to know that your staff is providing customer service as good as you think it is, or discover if there are some issues that need to be fixed to improve your customer service, click this link to schedule a meeting with me to see if we can make your business better.

The goal of almost every businessperson is to have as many customers as possible buying as many products or services as possible, and at the highest price possible.  Of course there are variations.  If you are a “discount” store and you are trying to offer the lowest price then it is upon you to be able to buy stuff cheaper to sell.

Once you get those customers in the door the first time, your next goal is to have as many of them come back again, and again, and again.  You need to create maximum customer satisfaction to achieve maximum customer loyalty.  While no business can perfectly please every customer, the primary need is to have as few angry customers as possible.  If a customer becomes P.O.’d they are most likely not to return to buy more of your products at whatever price you are selling.  Worse yet, they will now go on their social media platform or platforms of choice and tell everyone they can not to come buy your products or services.

So how can we avoid getting to the point of no return?

1.  Always Under Promise and Over Deliver – managing expectations is key.  If a customer gets a better deal than they expect, if they get more food on their plate than they expect, if they save more money than they expected, they will probably be happy and tell others.
2. Be Realistic.  –  There are three aspects to business:  Price, Quality, and Service.  In 95% of businesses, the customer can have any 2 but rarely can you have all 3.  If something is good quality and the business provides excellent service, it probably won’t be a low price, etc.
3. Finally, TRAIN YOUR EMPLOYEES HOW TO SERVE CUSTOMERS. – This is the most important aspect.  Do not assume your employees know how to handle customers (especially unhappy ones) or even how to deal with people.  I cannot say this enough. 

For more on how to improve your customer service, visit my website at https://coachmikenow.com.  There you can schedule a complimentary 30 minute session with me to discuss how we can help your business be the star with your customers.

Why do bad things happen all at once?

This last week it seems that I had one battle after another, most of them tech driven.  The first thing to happen was that one of my favorite Uncles passed away at 98 years old.  I have great memories of when I lived with my Aunt Doris and Uncle Sandy.  Uncle Salvy was Uncle Sandy’s brother-in-law.  Every year we would spend Christmas Eve at Uncle Salvy and Aunt Stella’s house, eating tamales and opening presents.  Although I haven't talked with him in some time, I will never forget him.

On Good Friday, I went to get my hair cut.  I was short on time and wanted to make sure I didn’t have to wait long as the girl who does my hair usually is in high demand.  She is good.  Well, since they don’t take reservations, I had called to inquire about the procedure to get on the list so I could be first up when she came to work.  When I arrived, I was told something else which made sense but was not what I was told.  So, after a tense discussion, I sat down to wait for my turn.  Suddenly, one of the three ladies who was involved in the discussion came and told me if I wanted to call them names (a vulgar name specifically) that I could leave.  She did this in front of everyone in the lobby.  I don’t tend to call people names, especially that name.  You’d have to make me much angrier to get to that point.  There’s more to that story.  Perhaps I’ll share in the Clubhouse.

Saturday I had trouble with my cybersecurity software.  Sunday we had a battle with our tv provider.  I also had another issue with an ongoing problem with another company that I am currently promoting.  It seems like I find all of the sub-issues in their system, LOL.  The main guy I’m dealing with called me a “pain-in-the-ass” but quickly said that was actually a compliment because I’m sort of weeding out issues they need to prepare for.  He told me that the action I took Sunday which triggered the latest issue he had not seen happen previously.  I was the first.  This is why you should hire me to be your proofreader… LOL.  I guess I have a gift for spotting or exposing issues.

You might be asking why I am telling you about all of these battles.  I’m doing so because what is important is not the battles I’m having but how I am dealing with them.  It is about my attitude when issues occur.  Do I get angry?  Yes, but usually only slightly.  I am slow to anger usually.  I’ve always been a very patient person… well at least since my 20’s.  How do I do this?

1. I start each day saying “This is the day that the Lord has made.  I will be glad and rejoice in it!
2. If I have an issue with a person or a business, I recognize that we all have days where we are not our best.  I try to resolve the issue directly, not turn into gossip or blast my anger all over social media.
3. Finally, and maybe most importantly, I know that good things can happen in bunches too.  I’ve had a day where I won two $500 lottery scratchers on the same day.  I’ve had experiences where I was offered multiple jobs from different companies on the same day and had to choose which one to take.

If you are trying your best to do your job as well as you can, to be the best person you can be, then don’t stop.  I remember as softball coach at a clinic I attended once said she knows her players are not going to be 100 percent all the time.  Her rule of thumbs was for her players to give her 100 percent of what they had at each moment.  If there were only at 80%, then she wanted 100 percent of that 80%.

Put this into your habits.  Recognize that you are human.  Recognize that we all have limits.  Give the best your are able to give at each opportunity.  Recognize that almost all events are temporary, good or bad. 

And don’t give up.  Don’t quit.  The game isn’t over until the clock runs out… unless you quit.

Don’t quit!

            Think of your own experiences daily.  How many interactions do you have with or around other people where you are expecting someone to respond to you in some manner?

1. You ask someone to pass you the salt at the dinner table.
2. You make a phone call. 
3. You make a purchase at any store or business.
4. You honk your horn at someone in front of you stopped at a green light.
5. You ask a question in a class, seminar, a business, or to any individual.

I’m sure you can think of many other instances as well.  Think about how long it takes for someone to respond in each situation.  Obviously the phone call one can vary in a number of ways.  The urgency with which you expect someone to respond to you is directly related to how important the situation is to……. YOU.

Right?

Now keep that thought in mind when you are called to respond to someone else.  The urgency they expect is directly related to the importance of the situation to…. THEM!  How does this relate to your business and your customer service priorities?

You need to consider your customer’s concerns and values as important to you as you would your own concerns and values if you were expecting a response from someone else, even more so.  If a customer’s inquiry seems like it may not be as pressing (you may get a clue for example, if the customer says, “there’s no rush….” Or something similar) you might ask them what their expectation is time wise to solve their request.

The single most important thing is that YOU DO RESPOND.  DO NOT IGNORE THE CUSTOMER!  Even if you feel their question or need is not really that important, it may be to them.  Ignoring a customer will definitely not gain you good marks in gaining or keeping their loyalty.  Respond and respond in a timely manner, based upon the importance of the issue to THEM!

Here are a few more tips from Time to Reply, a company that helps businesses automate responses to improve their customer service.

• Set clear response time targets: Define specific response time targets for different channels (email, live chat, social media) to ensure a consistent and timely approach.
• Prioritize urgent inquiries: Implement a system to identify and prioritize urgent customer inquiries, allowing your team to address critical issues promptly.
• Automate routine responses: Utilize automation for routine queries by implementing canned responses or chatbots, freeing up time for your team to focus on more complex issues.
• Provide comprehensive training: Ensure your customer service team is well-trained to handle various inquiries efficiently, minimizing the need for constant escalations.
• Utilize customer feedback tools: Implement tools to gather and analyze customer feedback, enabling you to identify areas for improvement and respond promptly to customer concerns.
• Use response time tracking software: Optimize customer satisfaction and streamline operations with response time tracking software, ensuring you unlock fast email reply value at every touchpoint.

If you would like to discuss your customer service needs further, please schedule a meeting with me, Coach Mike, to see how we can improve your customer service.

How observant are you about things around you?  Do you tend to notice things that are out of place, or do you go about doing what you’re doing until someone slaps you upside the head?

As I was worshipping in church this morning, I noticed a pencil someone had dropped in the aisle.  The person it was next to apparently didn’t see the pencil, and as it turned out, he was not the person who dropped it.

The pencil had been dropped by a teenage boy in the pew behind the man whose foot appears in the picture.  As service ended, I pointed the pencil out to the man but before he could pick it up, the teen who had dropped the pencil did pick it up.

Now all of that doesn’t seem to be anything that important to write or talk about, does it?  What was interesting is that during the ten or fifteen minutes that the pencil lay on the floor, four or five people walked right by the pencil.  None of them bothered to pick the pencil up, nor did they point it out to the man who was closest to the pencil.  A few of those were young children.  You would have thought they might have anxiously grabbed the pencil.  But no, they went right on by.

The mother stepped next to the pencil but went right on by, as did one or two other adults.  Did none of these people see the pencil?  Or did they not care that it was there and that they almost stepped on the pencil?

I’m thinking that they were oblivious to the pencil.  Their eyes may have seen the pencil, but their brain was fixated on something else.  After all, as Christians wouldn’t you think that one of these people would do the courtesy of picking up the pencil for their neighbor, or at least point it out? 

So why did this pencil suddenly gain such importance?  What triggered me to think about it?

Almost every day or night I see people driving with a light out, a brake light not working, driving with their bright lights on in traffic, or driving without lights in dark or bad weather.  I’m sure that sometimes it’s just a matter of “it just happened, and they haven’t gotten around to fix it yet…”

Right?

Uh huh?  I wonder how many people drive day after day and never bother to check out their lights, turn signals, etc.  I’ll bet some don’t bother to change their oil until something goes wrong.

Now what does all of this have to do with helping your business?

If you don’t notice little things in your business until they become big things, it is probably costing you money.  It may get you into big trouble.  If you have a web link that doesn’t connect properly, you may be losing potential sales.  If you have a little money missing now and then, and if you dismiss it or ignore it thinking “it’s only a little” that costs you money and may cost you much more.

I know!  It happened to me.  A little money was missing from my business once.  Money that wasn’t mine but that I was responsible for.  I didn’t totally ignore it.  But I didn’t take the right action in trying to solve the problem.  I wasn’t oblivious.  I was frustrated.  It cost me money.  It eventually cost me that business.  It almost got me thrown in jail.

Before you drive your car the next time, take a moment to check your lights to see if they work.  Check your brakes.  Your oil.  When you do this, I hope you will remember this blog and make sure you check the lights at your work or your business.

Years ago, when I was working on my bachelor’s degree at Westwood College, my literature instructor was in favor of a pass/fail grading system as opposed to letter grades, A, B, C, D, F, etc.  He had bought into the idea that letter grades created more stress for students and did not necessarily reflect their actual ability.  I disagree with this thinking on a couple of points.  I do think pass/fail may be acceptable for certain subjects, say like basket weaving… etc.…  (Ok, I’m being facetious.)

I asked Curt (the instructor) a question after class. 

“Curt, if you were having open heart surgery, would you want a doctor that got straight A’s at Harvard Medical School, or would you want some guy that just passed his classes at John Doe State University?”

After thinking about it for a second, Curt agreed that there should probably be a grading system for certain courses.

Do you think?

Accountability matters.  Accountability shows up in many ways.  It can be a recording of your income and expenses.  That’s pretty important when you want to know your financial situation, whether personal or business.  It can be counting the number of people who enter a sporting event, necessary to know due to fire regulations.  Or it can be the number of non-citizens allowed to enter your country. 

Accountability is also necessary when disciplining your children.  Failure to hold your children accountable for their disobedience leads to adults who will be disobedient.  I think we can all see how that’s going today.  Well, many of us anyway.

It used to be that your WORD mattered.  The Bible says that you do not need to “swear an oath” on anything, but let your Yes be Yes and your No be No.  But if you do not hold yourself accountable for what you tell people you will do, your WORD will not be worth anything.  Nobody will believe or trust you.  That makes life much more difficult.

As mentioned in my conversation with Curt, there are times where accountability may not be as important as other times.  This is where some common sense is needed.  Today we seem too often to allow people to make excuses for their shortcomings and failures.  Sometimes it may be ok to excuse someone for being late for work, or for breaking something, etc.  But when we allow someone to regularly make mistakes, or even worse, to intentionally do wrong, or evil, then accountability is out the window, and the consequences will be much worse for all involved.

As a Christian, I believe that Jesus died for my sins.  God gives me grace and overlooks my shortcomings.  But, as Paul says in the New Testament, does that mean I can just keep on sinning?  Of course not.  I am supposed to learn from my mistakes and try to do better.  We are all imperfect and are going to screw up at times, maybe many times.  But instead of beating us up for our failures, we need to learn from them, be accountable to what we are supposed to do or be and keep trying to improve.

If you do that, I am quite sure you will be able to look back at your journey with a better attitude and celebrate your successes.

I will be further discussing Accountability and Common Sense in Episode 78 redux, of Coach Mike Now livestream on Rumble.com.