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What My Iced Tea Taught Me about Customer Service…
By DanB | July 1, 2005
I used to be an avid iced tea drinker. There is a specific brand of
tea that I like best. There was only one problem. The store I used
quit selling it. I just can’t bring myself to drive to another town
just to buy some bags of tea. So I called the company to see where
I might find their tea locally.
First let me say the representative was very pleasant on the phone.
The only problem was the help wasn’t so helpful. After I explained
the problem she asked for my postal zip code to help locate a store
that sells their tea. I gave her the code then she informed me I
could pick the tea up at a certain store in San Antonio, TX. I
informed her that San Antonio was an five hour drive for me. Then
she offered Lubbock, TX. I told her that was only a six hour drive.
Surely there was something closer. Next she offered Houston, TX. It
is only a four hour drive assuming you don’t hit traffic. And that
is a bad assumption.
So I asked if I could just order some of tea over the phone. I
could. But there is a $13 minimum order. Thirteen dollars would net
me around 240 quarts of tea. That’s more than I wanted to store. So
I thanked her and started to hang up. She asked if they could send
me a discount coupon. I said sure and gave her the mailing
information. A few days later I received the coupon. Good for .25
cents off any box of tea. The envelope had a .37 cent stamp on it!
I did use the coupon next time I was at a store that stocked the
tea. Later I cut *way* back on caffeine. And now we have a store in
town that sells the tea.
Why do I bring this example up? Think about your own customer
service and all the interactions you have with you visitors,
customers, clients, friends, family, etc. In this case they were
very friendly, very helpful. The help they offered wasn’t useful to
me. It didn’t solve the problems I had.
As you think about your communications are you helping people with
the problems they actually have? Or are you helping them with the
problems you *think* they have? It’s a crucial difference. How do
you know if you are helping? I prefer to do this by phone or email
and not use a simple web form. You’ve seen them - the little
buttons on a page that say, “Did this article help you?” or
something similar.
Don’t be like that. Talk to your customers. Ask them “Is what I do
helping you?” Ask them what you could do to help them more. Often
the answers are surprisingly simple to implement. And often they
are things you wouldn’t think of on your own.
Some of you know that I’ve run a successful Internet newsletter for
nearly eight years. Any of you who have emailed me know that I
almost always ask a question or two in return. I’m always trying to
find out what information you are looking for. Even a simple
question like “what do you do for a living?” can tell you a lot.
So:
- Ask your customers what they want.
- Ask your customers how you can help them.
- Make sure you know what a customer is asking before you answer.
This last point is a topic in itself. We’ll talk about it more later.
Next issue I will tell you the easy technique I learned from a
famous mail order marketer for learning why your customers buy.
Copyright 2005 Dan Butler
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Topics: Customer Service |
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