“Do Unto Others as You Would Have Them Do Unto You”
Written By: Tim Hyland
When I think about customer service and how our company can provide the very best service available, all I have to do is ask myself what I look for as a consumer? And when I do so, here is what I find out about my preferences and reactions as a consumer.
1. Answer My Call - Getting my call answered on the first call by a real live person is wonderful! Automated teller systems are time-consuming and cumbersome. And even if you don’t have a solution for me on the first call, you have given me the positive impression that you are there and eager to help me.
2. Don’t Put Me in Voicemail – I’m less than happy with this, but expect someone will call back promptly. Promptly for me means in that same day.
3. Failure to return the call in the same day – I am now feeling not very important and you must have more activity than you can handle to get back with me. I am starting to get agitated about how long it is taking to deal with this specific issue.
4. You Don’t Have a Solution so You Pawn Me off to Someone Else – At this point I am now thinking I should look for a new representative for this service or product. If that “referred” person does not contact me immediately, I am on my way to changing my business to someone else.
- All consumers want to feel they are important to you and as such, they want to feel they have quick access to your services.
- All consumers would prefer not being put into voicemail. They have less faith they will get done what they needed in the time they needed done.
- As a consumer if the entire day goes by and I have not heard back from you, I now have to carry my issue into the next day and I am not happy about that.
- If you pawn me off to someone else in your company, I expect you to make sure the connection is made before I hang up. If I get a voicemail from the referred person, I am really beginning to be unhappy.
Numerous surveys over the years have proven that the #1 reason that a consumer leaves a service or product is THEY DO NOT FEEL RECOGNIZED and APPRECIATED by the organization with which they are doing business. And this perception real or imagined happens because of little things like not getting through to the service rep on the first call; being put repeatedly into voicemail; not getting a call back in the same day in which you called; and being pushed off on someone else with no follow-up.
And how do I know this? Because that is exactly how I feel as a consumer myself! When I can call for service help and I get through to you on the first call, I am ELATED! If you put me in voicemail, I am less happy, but I’m sure you will get back with me promptly, certainly before the end of the business day. You do get back with me, but inform that you can’t help, but you will refer me to someone who can. I am now not very happy at all, and I begin thinking of alternatives for my needs. The person to whom you referred me does not contact me that day or the next morning. I am now your ex-customer.
In our business, we all sell the same insurance products from various carriers. So, what separates the highly successful agencies form the rest of the pack?
- They have a high percentage of First Call Responses.
- They minimize voicemail and make sure all calls are returned before the end of the day.
- If a client needs to be referred, they make sure there is a “warm transfer” to make sure the connection is completed.
- The service rep contacts the client periodically to just check on how things are going? Proactive calls to clients make a big and lasting call on the customer. The thought process is simple – “Wow, they thought enough of me to take their time to reach out to me!”
Individually, these things may seem trivial, but collectively, they separate the winners from the losers in most all businesses.