Have you ever called a company and listened to a recording of their customer service representative that said, "This call is being recorded for training purposes?" I bet if we looked under the hood with most companies, you will find that they actually never listen to those calls and make any changes. I realize that is a bold statement however, I will share examples where either that is the case or the people listening to the calls have no clue.
First, let me offer this initial thought before we get started. Most people are reaching out to a company because they have a problem with the product or service they purchased. This is important to understand because everything that happens now either becomes the opportunity for the company to recover their client or lose them. And we know if they lose them, they will most certainly tell others about their bad experience.
Let's picture the first thing you hear upon connecting with the company is, "we so appreciate your business....and due to high call volume we expect your hold time to be 30 minutes.” Are you kidding me? You so appreciate my business I will ONLY have to wait 30 minutes to get help. Imagine if they REALLY appreciated your business, would your hold time be 60 minutes!!!
Of course, you don't have an option, it’s not like you can hang up and can call someone else, you have to stay on hold. Now, the representative finally picks up the phone and says, "thank you for holding, how can I help you?" I have to believe if people are like me, the first thing they say is, "I have been on hold for 30 minutes" So, either one of two things is clear at this point. Either they really don't care about my wait time, as they would hear this complaint over and over again, as they listen to the calls, or they are not listening to the calls. In either case, the end result is the same. Loss of customers and future business.
Lost Opportunity
Let me share a real example of another lost opportunity. I recently called a family-owned local appliance provider which has been around for 50 years, with a number of locations. They compete with the big box retailers as appliances are for the most part a commodity. There are only a handful of manufactures, therefore one would think service is their differentiator. To my surprise, that was not the case.
The representative was very pleasant, as she takes my information and now is able to help me with my specific appliance. (Just as aside, to me appliances certainly don't last like they used to). As she goes through all of my information she tells me that my less than 5-year-old appliance is out of the manufacture warranty and out of the extended warranty. Of course, I say to myself. Then I remind myself we really need a washer to wash clothes, so I now compose my frustration and ask, so could we schedule a service call. What she tells me next, shocks me. I am sorry sir, we are not taking any "cash client" repairs currently. In my head, I’m thinking "WHAT" did you switch to cryptocurrency...What does that mean? She responds since your appliance is out of warranty and the extended warranty, we can't help you.
I then proceed to share with her we have purchased probably 15 or more appliances from this company in the last 25 years (guessing she could see that on her screen) and that service has always been a bit of a challenge, yet this was the straw that broke the camels back. You sold me this product and now you can't service it, because you have not decided if you are in the commodity business or service business. I then proceed to share with her this will be the last product I purchase from this company.
If someone was truly listening to that call, I would have gotten a call of some type attempting to resolve my issues. No call. What is unfortunate is that we are likely going to need appliances in the near future as we are exploring a remodeling project, and we will not be purchasing them from the local family business, which is a shame.
Could the outcome have been different if someone would have listened to the call being recorded for training purposes; possibly. Why? Because I would have been so surprised that someone actually cared and took the time to reach out, I may have given them the benefit of the doubt.
You see, I doubt many companies actually listen to those calls because if they did, customers would receive more follow-up calls and have their issues resolved at a higher level.
Do want to know how to train your leaders to be better leaders, please reach out to info@patmancuso.com