Not Listening and Poor Customer Service Can Hurt Your Business

Not Listening and Poor Customer Service Can Hurt Your Business

Dr. Linda Hancock

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dr. Hancock has written a regular weekly column entitled “All Psyched Up” for newspapers in two Canadian provinces for more than a dozen years. Over the years, her readers and clients have said that they have benefited from her common-sense solutions, wisdom, and sense of humour. Dr. Linda Hancock, the author of “Life is An Adventure…every step of the way” and “Open for Business Success” is a Registered Psychologist who has a private practice in Medicine Hat. She can be reached at 403-529-6877 or through email office@drlindahancock.com

Published

March 7 2011

Have you ever stood in line at a Customer Service kiosk only to hear a customer try to tell their story without being heard by the clerk? Sometimes the clerk rolls their eyes or uses other behavioural language that leaves the impression that the customer is out of line or not respected for their concerns. At other times, the clerk might take a telephone call or listen to another person's concerns right in the middle of listening to the customer.

Don't you just want to go up to the counter and tell the clerk to "pay attention?"

Well, when you are in business you need to make sure that you are "paying attention" to the clients. There are times that they may have tried to build up their courage to talk with you about something that has upset them and if you keep ignoring them or put your attention on other things when they are trying to talk with you, there will be a consequence.

The reason that retail stores have Customer Service counters is that they expect people to have concerns. Management knows that there will be products that do not work as expected for the customers, they not only understand this, but they also have set up a process for dealing with the problems. Unfortunately, however, for whatever reason, there are some clerks who do not understand that their job is to take the sting out of the situation and also re-establish a good relationship with a disgruntled customer.

If they do succeed at this, the story will be told over and over again to friends, family and neighbours. If they don't succeed at this, the story will be told over and over again to friends, family and neighbours. You see, business is not just about marketing and making sales. It is also about recognizing that there will be problems and having a system in place that will help to deal with the problems so that person will have renewed trust and relationship with the business.

People represent the business in which they work. You, as a solo professional, are the business. It is therefore very important that you are able to work with your clients through good times and not so good times, Over the years, I have found that the person who has had a complaint but is dealt with properly becomes not only a loyal client but also is a wonderful referral source for future business. Learn to deal with unhappy clients through listening and good customer service.