Are You Prepared For The UNHAPPY Customer?

With the widespread use of social media, the customer's voice is amplified. No longer are they limited to telling a few friends of their dissatisfaction with the service or product they receive. For this reason, it is imperative that customer service, and the overall customer experience, are top priorities within an organization.

I firmly believe the experience rendered is the difference between retaining and acquiring customers as opposed to losing them. When all things are equal among brands, surveys have shown customers will chose based on service and quality.

Customers will likely express their frustrations for poor customer service more frequently than share their delight for good service. To do so via social media, blog, etc., would be an eye sore for any brand. So what can you do?

1. Respect each customer
2. Committ to providing excellent service
3. Own up to your mistakes
4. Solicit customer feedback, and act upon it
5. Become partners with, and advocates for your customers

I for one, believe a well organized contact center should be proactive rather than reactive. Ensure you have the right personnel, processes, and procedures, while utilizing the right data. Implement a "disaster recovery" strategy before it's needed, and train your staff to effectively deescalate, and resolve issues for frustrated customers.

You can't avoid unhappy customers, but you can be prepared for them. More so, you should be prepared to make them happy.

Sean Hawkins is a Customer Experience and Contact Center Manager with over 15 years of call center experience. In that time, he’s worked in numerous roles in the public, private and government sectors.

Follow on Twitter  and LinkedIn