I recently had a personal experience that ignited my desire to stress a point I teach in my Professional Customer Service course. . . . Don’t Make the Customer Wrong! Most of you know our primary business is Sage SalesLogix CRM, and maybe some of you know I teach soft skills courses related to CRM,  but maybe less of you know that, as a consumer, I expect to be treated professionally like I teach. Well, I am constantly surprised.

There is a factor at work here that I should mention. The more personal or emotionally engaging the situation, the higher the expectations and therefore the easier to disappoint or delight the consumer. For example, when you hear a bad customer service experience, which by the way we tell about 12 people, they are sometimes related to vacations, medical experiences, business travel, etc. These situations are highly emotional for us and provide more stories to tell than other situations. However, I believe that many of you provide business critical products and services, so your customer exchanges can turn into  emotionally charged situations quickly. Anyway, back to my story. . .

I was taking a family member for day surgery and we were greeted by two highly processed, focused individuals with no personal connection aptitude at the check-in desk. We were handed family instructions to help us understand what the family should expect and what process the family should follow to see their loved ones. Well, I am all for processes–that is what SalesLogix helps our customers automate–but not at the expense of making the customer feel like they are not important.

So my family member is called out and we are sitting there expecting him to return to us and tell us what is next, and a woman across the waiting room says, “He won’t come back; you better go see to which room they took him.” We go back to the highly efficient desk associate and she asks me when he was called, and I said about 10 minutes ago. She said, “Did you read your family sheet?” I said yes and then she said, “What is his name?” I gave them his name and said we thought he would come back before they took him away, and then she said, “I thought you said you read your family instructions. Did you really read them? If you had read them you would know. . .” Wow! She had to make the point or prove to me I had not read my instructions. Which I did, by the way, read the sheet, but when you are scared it could be the last time you see someone special, everything you read an hour ago doesn’t register. I was so upset I thought my head was going to blow off, but instead I said, “I don’t care about your instructions; where is my family member?”

Maybe it is important for your clients to learn certain policies or procedures that will help you help them. My suggestion is to point these out very gently and use phrases like, “I know this can be confusing,” or, “sometimes the steps can seem overwhelming, but we are here to help.” Kindly direct them back to the information and help them locate the information they are looking for, or even better,  just kindly answer their questions. The only reasons to refer folks to someone else or to point out instructions, etc.,  is for their best interest.

Ok, stepping off my soapbox!

If you would like to learn more tips, or have a CRM topic you would like us to write about, please contact Simplesoft Solutions, Inc. in one of our Cincinnati/Dayton (OH), Charleston (WV), or Charlotte (NC) surrounding area office locations:

Dayton, Ohio Office:
Simplesoft Solutions, Inc.
550 N. Main St. Suite A
Springboro, OH 45066
Phone: (937) 885-1204 x 3204
Fax: (937) 885-3580
sales@simplesoft.net

Ripley, WV Office:
Simplesoft Solutions, Inc.
710 Random Rd.
Ripley, WV 25271
Phone: (304) 521-2387
Fax: (937) 885-3580
sales@simplesoft.net

Charlotte, NC Office:
Simplesoft Solutions, Inc.
3635 Eastover Ridge Drive
Charlotte, NC 28211
Phone: (704) 910-3872
Fax: (937) 885-3580
sales@simplesoft.net