Customer Service Collision

Customer Service Collision: How to Avoid Catastrophes

By Terry L. Brock

I was having lunch the other day with some friends and the conversation turned to recent experiences with businesses and customer service. One of my friends related how she had some damage to her car’s bumpers (front and back) after a minor accident. She took her car into a local repair shop (we’ll call it “Orlando Collision,”--- not their real name---for the sake of discussion).

What should have been a routine experience for her turned into a Customer Service Collision. Perhaps you can relate. There are a lot of ways that you can turn her negative experience into a positive one for your business.

But I get ahead of myself.

Repairing bumpers is not a big deal for a business like Orlando Collision since this is what they do and it should have taken one, maybe two days tops. However, she knew something was wrong as the delays went on and it stretched over a week to get it done. The company complained about the insurance, what would be covered, blah, blah blah.

Have you noticed that a lot of companies substitute genuine customer care and service with “blah, blah, blah?” the form it takes is slightly different for each company, depending on the jargon used, but it still boils down to the business not providing human connections with the customer. Instead they use a bunch of mumbo-jumbo gibberish to confuse the customer.

Well, after a long, seemingly endless delay for my friend, she finally went back to Orlando Collision to get her car. As she was in a rush she happily drove her car home for the weekend looking forward to everything being back to normal.

That weekend she decided to wash her car. When she got to the rear bumper, which should have been repaired, she noticed that the damage was still there from the week-earlier experience.

This is a problem but could have been used as a great way for our friends at “Orlando Collision” to rectify the situation, apologize profusely, help her get it straight and win her devotion as a customer for life. But, unfortunately, “Orlando Collision” didn’t think that way.

My friend brought her car back and before she could even voice the problem, a very undignified, rude “service” (we’ll use that word loosely!) lady behind the counter said to her sarcastically, “So, you had more damage this weekend?” My friend calmly said that it was the same damage that should have been repaired the first time.

The “service” lady (again, we’re talking a very loose interpretation of “service”) accused my friend of getting into another accident and trying to take advantage of their shop. Rather than helping their customer, this “service” lady assumed that my friend was covering up a second accident, she was trying to rip off their business and my friend was at fault.

This is the moment of truth for your business as well. The problem is not that there is a problem. Welcome to my planet. Problems are a big part of what we do. Even with the best of intentions, plans, systems, etc., your business will encounter “oops” events that occur. It is how you handle the “oops” that separates you from the competition.

Well, after being humiliated by the “service” lady, my friend asked to see the manager. What happened next puts it all in perspective. This employee of Orlando Collision said, “He’s sitting right here,” and pointed to a gentleman sitting next to her pecking away on a computer who had been listening to the entire conversation. This gentleman (I’m getting very loose with my terms today), didn’t say a word but instead shrugged my friend off with a hand motion and continued pecking away on his computer.

Yikes! This type of situation emerges when people focus on the task at hand more than the people. News Flash Orlando Collision ---you’re in business for people---not computers! It is the customers who pay your salary, fund the business and make it happen. Yes, computers are nice and helpful, but they fall a distant second, third or lower priority, to a customer who is frustrated and needs your help.

After several minutes with my friend patiently waiting for a response the manager finally left the computer and said, “Well, I’ll have to compare your bumper to the pictures we have on file.” Ugh! Adding insult to injury he implied that my friend was fabricating this and trying to take advantage of the business!

When the pictures showed that the damage was the same, the manager muttered something unintelligible about the insurance, what they could do, etc. Sounds like more “Blah, blah, blah” to me. They knew they were wrong and had falsely accused my friend but instead of apologizing and remedying the situation, the resorted to the “blah, blah, blah” technique.

News Flash Orlando Collision --- The “blah, blah, blah” technique doesn’t work!

As of this writing the situation is still in limbo and my friend doesn’t know exactly what is going to happen. But some powerful learning is packed into this example for our business.

First, have systems in place that make the experience a pleasant one for your customer. Every time a customer comes to you, they are there because they have pain and want it solved, Either they need a car repaired, they need a tooth fixed, their sales need to increase or something---they need your help. That’s why they came to you. The first responsibility of your business is having the right systems in place to effortlessly help them and make them happy to work with you.

Second, realize that stuff happens in the real world. Correct it as rapidly as possible for your customer. Make them feel good about working with you. These times are wonderful to bond with that customer and generate more loyalty than if everything went just right.

Third, yes, the customer is going to interrupt you at times when you are doing other tasks. However, remember why you’re in business in the first place. It is not to “work on the computer” but to relieve the pain of customers.

At least we can thank “Orlando Collision” for teaching us lessons about customer service. Perhaps one other lesson will be to avoid them and similar businesses like theirs and take our business to those who demonstrate genuine, real customer care!

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Terry Brock is a marketing coach who helps business owners market more effectively leveraging technology. He shows busy professionals how to squeeze more out of their busy days using the right rules and tools. He can be reached at 407-363-0505, by e-mail at terry@terrybrock.com or through his website at www.terrybrock.com.

Copyright © 2005, Terry Brock, All Rights Reserved Internationally. No portion may be reprinted or used in any way without prior written permission. Permission granted to Biz Journals to use